Hamriyah
Hamriyah Free Zone: Heavy Industry, Six Sector Parks
Hamriyah Free Zone Authority was established in 1995 via Emiri Decree in Sharjah. It is one of the UAE's serious industrial zones, organised into six sector parks and holding 30 million square metres of industrial land.
- The right sector park identified for your operation
- Land, warehousing and port requirements scoped early
- Customs registration handled alongside the licence
- Corporate tax and VAT position mapped for a goods business
A licensed UAE tax practice, not a licence broker.
Quick Answer
Hamriyah Free Zone Authority (HFZA) was established in 1995 via Emiri Decree in Sharjah. It is organised into six sector-specific parks: Oil & Gas, Maritime Industry, Industrial Manufacturing Park, Global Logistics Park, Food Park and Accelerator Hub. Facilities include executive offices at Hamriyah Business Centre, prefabricated international-standard warehouses, and 30 million square metres of industrial land. Legal forms are Limited Liability Free Zone Establishment, Limited Liability Free Zone Company, Local Branches and International Branches.
Six Parks, Six Different Businesses
Hamriyah does not run one undifferentiated estate. It runs six, and the separation is the point: co-locating similar operations concentrates the infrastructure, the suppliers and the workforce each one needs.
Oil and gas is the heavyweight, and Hamriyah has a long history in it. Maritime serves shipbuilding and marine services. The Industrial Manufacturing Park and Global Logistics Park do what their names say. The Food Park carries specific handling and approval requirements. The Accelerator Hub serves smaller and earlier businesses.
- Oil & Gas
- Maritime Industry
- Industrial Manufacturing Park
- Global Logistics Park
- Food Park
- Accelerator Hub
Land at Genuine Scale
Thirty million square metres of industrial land puts Hamriyah in a small group of UAE zones that can accommodate operations needing real space.
Alongside the land sit prefabricated international-standard warehouses and executive offices at the Hamriyah Business Centre, so the zone can house a head office and a plant without splitting the licence.
For heavy industry, land availability and port access decide the economics. Licence cost is a rounding error against them.
- 30 million m² of prime industrial land
- Prefabricated international-standard warehouses
- Executive offices at Hamriyah Business Centre
- Cost-effective licensing alongside industrial capacity
Legal Forms
Per the Ministry registrar record, the available forms are Limited Liability Free Zone Establishment, Limited Liability Free Zone Company, Local Branches and International Branches.
For international groups the branch options are often the cleaner route into a project, particularly in oil and gas where the work may be contract-limited and a permanent subsidiary is more structure than the job requires.
- Limited Liability Free Zone Establishment
- Limited Liability Free Zone Company
- Local Branches
- International Branches
Sharjah's Industrial Case
Sharjah has been an industrial emirate for a long time, and that history shows in the supply chain rather than in the brochure.
Fabricators, engineering workshops, transport contractors and specialist trades are already there in numbers. For an industrial business, being surrounded by that ecosystem shortens every procurement cycle and makes recruitment easier than starting somewhere newer.
It also borders Dubai, which the northern emirates do not. Freight and staff move between the two without the distances that Ras Al Khaimah or Fujairah impose, while the cost base stays well below Dubai's.
The cost is congestion. Peak-time traffic between Sharjah and Dubai is genuinely difficult, and any business moving people or goods across that boundary daily should plan around it rather than discover it.
- Established industrial supply chain and trades
- Borders Dubai, unlike the northern emirates
- Cost base well below Dubai zones
- Peak-time congestion is a real operational constraint
The 0% Question, Answered Honestly
No free zone grants you 0% corporate tax. The zone issues a licence; the Federal Tax Authority decides your rate. To pay 0% you have to be a Qualifying Free Zone Person, and that status is tested every year against your actual income, not your address.
Revenue billed to mainland UAE customers is generally not qualifying income. It carries 9%.
We file the corporate tax returns for companies in these zones, which is why we would rather have this conversation before you pay a licence fee than at your first return.
- Qualifying income, tested against your real invoices
- Adequate substance maintained inside the zone
- Transfer pricing compliance, including with related parties
- Audited financial statements, not optional for a QFZP
- Election and registration handled on time, every year
What Industrial Projects Underestimate
The licence is the quick part. Everything physical takes longer, and the sequence has dependencies that cannot be compressed.
Environmental approval comes first for most manufacturing and processing, and it is a real assessment. Utilities follow: power and water capacity for a production line is an engineering question with a lead time. Then workforce, which means visas, accommodation and transport for people who have to be there every day.
And the exit. Industrial land leases are long. Read the exit terms as carefully as the rent, because closing an industrial operation is considerably harder than closing an office.
- Environmental approval for manufacturing and processing
- Power and water capacity engineered against your plant
- Workforce visas, accommodation and transport planned in
- Customs client code before the first shipment
- Long lease exit terms read as carefully as the rent
Related Exiloz Services & Guides
When was Hamriyah Free Zone established?
1995, via Emiri Decree, per the authority's own materials. It operates in Sharjah and provides infrastructure, logistics and operational support across six sector-specific parks.
What are the six Hamriyah sector parks?
Oil & Gas, Maritime Industry, Industrial Manufacturing Park, Global Logistics Park, Food Park and Accelerator Hub. The separation concentrates the infrastructure, suppliers and workforce each industry needs.
How much industrial land does Hamriyah have?
The authority cites 30 million square metres of prime industrial acreage, which places it among the few UAE zones able to accommodate operations at genuine industrial scale.
What legal forms does Hamriyah offer?
Limited Liability Free Zone Establishment, Limited Liability Free Zone Company, Local Branches and International Branches, per the Ministry of Economy & Tourism registrar record. Branch routes are often cleaner for international groups working on contract-limited projects.
Is Hamriyah good for an oil and gas business?
It is one of the UAE's established locations for the sector, with a dedicated Oil & Gas park and a long history in the industry. For service companies, fabrication and supply businesses, the concentration of similar operations is a practical advantage in both supply chain and recruitment.
Is Hamriyah a designated zone for VAT?
Designated zone status is conferred by Cabinet Decision and the current list is published by the Federal Tax Authority. The criteria in Article 51(1) of the Executive Regulations require a fenced area, customs controls, internal goods-handling procedures and operator compliance with FTA procedures, and the treatment applies to goods rather than services. It should be verified against your specific facility rather than assumed.
What approvals does an industrial licence need at Hamriyah?
Manufacturing and processing activities generally require environmental approval, and food-related activity carries additional handling and approval requirements. Utility capacity for a production line also needs engineering rather than simply requesting, so these steps should be scoped before any land commitment.
Can Hamriyah accommodate a small business?
The Accelerator Hub and the Hamriyah Business Centre serve smaller and earlier-stage businesses alongside the heavy industrial parks, and cost-effective licensing is offered from the business centre. That said, the zone's real advantage is industrial capability, so a small service business would gain little from the location.
Does Hamriyah have port access?
The zone is built around industrial and maritime activity in Sharjah, with a dedicated Maritime Industry park and a Global Logistics Park among its six sector parks. For businesses moving goods by sea, the port relationship and the specific handling requirements should be confirmed with the authority against your cargo type.
What is the Hamriyah Food Park?
It is one of the six sector-specific parks, dedicated to food industry businesses. Food activity carries handling, storage and approval requirements beyond those of general light industry, so a purpose-built park addresses infrastructure that ordinary industrial units would not satisfy.
The rest of what we do
Licence, visas, bank account, books and the first tax return — handled by the same team, so the structure has to survive its first year.
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Mainland vs Free Zone
Pick the jurisdiction before the licence. The decision that survives year one.
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PRO & Document Clearing
Establishment card, immigration file, visas, medicals and attestation.
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VAT Registration
Threshold checks, grouping and registration handled against the FTA's current rules.
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VAT Return Filing
VAT201 prepared, reconciled and filed, with the position documented.
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Corporate Tax Registration
Every taxable person must register, including free zone companies applying 0%.
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Corporate Tax Filing
Returns, elections and the qualifying income analysis behind them.
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Accounting & Bookkeeping
Books kept audit-ready from month one, not reconstructed at year end.
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Audit Preparation
Schedules, reconciliations and the evidence your auditor will ask for.
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Planning an Industrial Operation in Sharjah?
We will identify the right sector park, scope the approvals and utilities, and handle the licence, customs registration and returns.
