General jurisdiction information

The United Arab Emirates is a state in the Middle East comprised of 7 emirates forming the federation of the UAE. The country borders Saudi Arabia and Sultanate Oman and is open to the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean through the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.

The population is over 10,000,000 and the capital city is Abu Dhabi.

The official language is Arabic.

The official currency is Dirham (AED).

The UAE has the highest deposits of oil and gas in the Middle East which are spread around the country in an uneven pattern: around 95% is concentrated in the emirate of Abu Dhabi while three of the emirates do not have any deposits at all. The UAE has been a member of The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries since 1967.

The main sources of national income are crude oil and gas extraction and export, re-export, the sale of goods, tourism and transportation.

In an effort to attract investment, the emirates of Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Ras al-Khaimah, Fujairah and Umm al-Qaiwain have set up and successfully operate over 30 Free Economic Zones (FEZ) and are working towards opening several more soon. Each FEZ offers benefits for specific activities. With the widest range of business operations, licensing services, beneficial tax policies, high professional business standards and competitiveness, the UAE has been, and remains, a very attractive jurisdiction for the setting up and operation of diverse companies in many sectors of the economy.

The UAE is widely renowned for the quality and accessibility of its transportation infrastructure and is considered to be the best in the Middle East. The country operates 6 international airports (the completion of Al Maktoum, the seventh air harbour, is expected in 2015 in Dubai and is destined to become the number one in the world according to cargo and passenger numbers). Two out of 12 sea ports of the UAE rank among the top container ports of the world.

The UAE can also boast state of the art telecommunications networks.