How to Start a Gifts Trading Business in Dubai with Meydan Free Zone

Every branded power bank handed out at a Dubai World Trade Centre stand. Every date box shipped to a client list before Eid. Every engraved pen set boxed for a Business Bay law firm. Every crystal award is commissioned for an annual gala. Every souvenir figurine moved in volume to a Deira tourist retailer. Gifts Trading covers the wholesale supply layer feeding gift and souvenir retail, corporate buyers and event organisers across the emirates.

Fortune Business Insights¹ anticipates the UAE gift retailing market at USD 15.25 billion in 2025, inside a Middle East and Africa region generating USD 34.13 billion in 2025 and projected to reach USD 34.89 billion in 2026. The Business Research Company² values global corporate gifting at USD 886.56 billion in 2025, rising to USD 956.93 billion in 2026 at 7.9 percent a year and USD 1,312.85 billion by 2030 at 8.2 percent. Cognitive Market Research³ projects the UAE to account for 0.71 percent of the global corporate gifting market, with demand concentrated in luxury goods, premium food items such as dates and chocolates and customised high-end products. Research and Markets⁴ reports Dubai holding the largest revenue share of the UAE gifting market, with the corporate segment growing faster than residential gifting and offline channels still dominant.

Whether you are running a corporate gifting supply business serving Dubai employers on annual programmes, a wholesale distributor moving china, glassware, table décor and figurines to retailers across the emirates, a promotional merchandise trader supplying branded drinkware, tech accessories and stationery for events, or a seasonal gifting operation built around Ramadan, Eid, Diwali and year-end corporate cycles, you need a trade license in Dubai. With Meydan Free Zone, you can get there in under 60 minutes with Fawri, through a fully online process.

A Wholesale Gifting Supply Layer Serving Retail, Corporate and Event Buyers

A Dubai-licensed gifts trader serves a UAE gift retailing market anticipated at USD 15.25 billion in 2025, inside a Middle East and Africa market generating USD 34.13 billion and a global corporate gifting market growing 7.9 percent a year toward USD 1,312.85 billion by 2030.

Sources: The Business Research Company (2026), Cognitive Market Research (2026), Research and Markets (2024)

Who is this activity for?

• CORPORATE GIFTING & PROMOTIONAL MERCHANDISE TRADERS: You supply branded drinkware, tech accessories, executive sets, awards and stationery to employers running annual reward and client retention programmes. You handle logo application, stock availability and delivery windows measured in days rather than shipping cycles.
• WHOLESALE DISTRIBUTORS TO GIFT AND SOUVENIR RETAIL: You move gift sets, decorative and home décor pieces, candles, photo frames, figurines, souvenirs, glassware and tableware, greeting cards, toys and novelty lines in volume to gift shops, souvenir retailers and hospitality buyers across Dubai, Abu Dhabi and the Northern Emirates.
• SEASONAL & OCCASION GIFTING SUPPLIERS: You build a calendar around Ramadan, Eid, Diwali, National Day and year-end corporate cycles, supplying date and chocolate gift boxes, hampers and festive ranges to hypermarket buyers, corporates and event organisers against fixed delivery windows.

4649.22 - Gifts Trading

Under this activity, you can run a gifts trading business supplying gift products across the emirates on a wholesale and trading basis. Gifting is a broad category by nature, and product range typically spans corporate and promotional gifts such as branded drinkware, power banks, notebooks, pens, tote bags, apparel and desk accessories, awards and trophies, personalised and engraved items, gift sets and hampers, date and chocolate gift boxes, candles and home fragrance, decorative and home décor pieces, souvenirs and figurines, greeting cards and gift packaging product, toys, games and novelty lines, perfume and cosmetics gift sets, watches, jewellery, leather goods and travel accessories, and glassware and tableware. Buyers include gift and souvenir retailers, corporate and human resources buyers, event and exhibition organisers, hospitality groups, hypermarket buyers and promotional merchandise resellers.

[blockCTACostCalculator]

This activity covers gifts trading as a broad wholesale and trading sub-scope sitting within wholesale of other household goods. Product range is defined by what the gifting market sells rather than by a closed category list.

In short: if you are running a corporate gifting supplier, a wholesale distributor to gift and souvenir retail, a promotional merchandise trader or a seasonal gifting operation, this is your activity. Wholesale of blank media and broadcasting equipment sits under 4652, and office furniture under 4659.‍

Third-party approval

‍No third-party approval is required for this business activity. 

Anti-money laundering compliance

‍This business activity is exempt from AML compliance requirements.

[blockCTAContact]

Footnotes

² The Business Research Company, "Corporate Gifting Global Market Report 2026", 2026.

³ Cognitive Market Research, "Corporate Gifting Market Report", 2026.

⁴ Research and Markets, "United Arab Emirates Gifting Market", 2024.