How to Start a Logistics Business with Meydan Free Zone

A logistics company moves other people's goods and takes responsibility for them along the way. That covers transport by road, sea or air, warehousing, stock control, customs clearance and order fulfilment. Some clients hand over the whole chain, from raw materials to the finished product landing on a customer's doorstep. Others want one piece of it done properly and nothing else.

Dubai is a natural base for this work. This guide covers the two activity codes that matter, the approval you need after your license is issued, how customs clearance and the import and export code work, and how to set the company up through Meydan Free Zone.

Key Stats at a Glance

What This License Covers

5229.91, Logistics and Freight Services

This is the working code. It covers freight forwarding and the organisation of transport by rail, road, sea or air, along with the coordination of group and individual consignments, pickup and delivery, and the grouping of consignments. Planning, designing and supporting transport, warehousing and distribution all sit inside it, as does issuing and procuring transport documents and waybills. Customs agents, sea-freight forwarders and air-cargo agents work under this code too.

It stretches further than most people expect. Brokerage for ship and aircraft space, goods handling, temporary crating and uncrating, sampling and weighing of goods, crating and packing for transport, and packaging incidental to transport are all included. What is left out: courier work, motor, marine, aviation and transport insurance, travel agencies, tour operators and tourist assistance.

7020.15, Logistics Consultancy

This is management consultancy for businesses and other organisations. It covers advice, guidance and hands-on help across strategic and organisational planning, financial decisions, marketing aims and policies, human resource policy and planning, and production scheduling and control. It also takes in the design of accounting systems, cost accounting programs and budgetary control procedures, plus advice on public relations, communication and lobbying.

Excluded here: writing computer software for accounting systems, legal advice, accounting, bookkeeping and auditing, tax consulting, architectural and engineering advice, advertising, market research, opinion polling, executive placement, search consulting and educational consulting.

Who Your Clients Will Be

Your buyers fall into a handful of groups:

• Manufacturers and traders who want the whole supply chain handled
• Retailers and e-commerce sellers who need warehousing and order fulfilment
• Importers and exporters who need customs clearance and paperwork done right
• Businesses that only want one leg of the job, such as storage or distribution
• Companies in regulated goods, such as healthcare or food, that need specialist handling

Money comes from freight margins, warehousing and handling fees, customs clearance charges, and retained contracts with clients who hand you the same volume every month. Adding the consultancy code lets you charge for planning and design work alongside the moving of boxes.

Mainland or Free Zone

Let your buyers decide it, not the price. If most of your volume crosses a border, a free zone license fits the way you work and keeps the company fully yours. If you plan to run vehicles and serve local clients across the emirate, look at a mainland license from the Department of Economy and Tourism. Either way the RTA approval still applies.

Step by Step Setup Guide

• Step 1, book your trade name: Use the Meydan Free Zone portal to check the name is free and clears UAE naming rules.
• Step 2, pick your activity codes: Confirm 5229.91 sits on the approved list, and add 7020.15 now if you intend to sell consultancy as well.
• Step 3, send in your setup documents: Passport copies for every shareholder and director, the application forms, and a short description of the activity.
• Step 4, get the trade license: Meydan Free Zone issues the commercial license. Faster issuance is available through Fawri if you need to move quickly.
• Step 5, apply for RTA approval: This comes after the license, not before. You cannot run freight services without it.
• Step 6, apply for your import and export code and open a bank account: The code is what lets you clear goods through customs. Banks will want the license and your setup paperwork.

Meydan Free Zone supports remote setup, so shareholders outside the UAE can get a logistics company running without visiting.

Compliance and What You Need in Place

RTA approval

To provide logistics and freight services you need approval from the Roads and Transport Authority, and you apply for it after your business license is issued. The RTA sets standards covering the safety and security of the goods you carry, and this is the check that you meet them.

Which activities you can pair

Logistics and Freight Services may only be combined with other activities under RTA-Group A, and with activities unrelated to transport where the relevant authority allows it. Group A is a long list covering freight and passenger transport, vehicle and kit rental, waste transport and delivery services. Check your intended mix against it before you commit.

Customs clearance and the import and export code

Customs clearance is the process of getting government approval to bring goods across a border. Forwarding is the arranging of it: booking cargo space, preparing shipping documents, sorting the clearance and moving the goods by land, sea or air. You must apply for an import and export code to do any of it. Without the code you cannot clear goods, and shipments may be delayed or seized.

Anti-money laundering

Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions have to follow anti-money laundering law, prevent the financing of terrorism and illegal organisations, and apply Ministry of Economy rules, including goAML registration. Activities 5229.91 and 7020.15 are not subject to AML rules, so this does not apply to a company holding only those two codes.

Day to day admin

Meydan Plus handles the running around: bank account opening, document pickup and drop-off, medical biometrics and Emirates ID booking, meeting rooms, flexi-desk space and corporate letters, with payment made on the spot.

Market Opportunity

Logistics in Dubai is not one market, it is several stacked on top of each other. Goods pass through by sea, air and road, and the same shipment often needs forwarding, storage, clearance and final delivery from four different quarters. A company holding 5229.91 can sell all four to one client, which is why the retained contract model works so well here.

The consultancy code is the part people miss. Pairing 7020.15 with the freight code lets you charge for designing a supply chain as well as running it, and specialist handling for sectors such as healthcare or food gives you a reason to charge more than a general carrier. That combination is where the margin sits.

Conclusion

Logistics is a well-trodden path in Dubai, and the sequence matters more than anything else. Get the license, then the RTA approval, then the import and export code. Skip a step and you have a company that cannot legally move a box.

A free zone license keeps the company fully yours and suits cross-border work. Add the consultancy code at the start if you want it, because adding codes later is more trouble than adding them now.

References

• Roads and Transport Authority
• Ministry of Economy