Ajman Free Zone activity register
Industrial licence activities in Ajman Free Zone
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Ajman Free Zone (AFZ) issues the Industrial licence for manufacturing, processing, assembling and packaging goods, drawn from a register of 407 named activities; reselling goods someone else made falls under its Commercial family. AFZ describes the licence as letting the holder import raw materials, manufacture the listed goods and export them. Premises decide fit: AFZ offers customisable warehouses, land to build your own facility and onsite accommodation for this licence, and construction on leased land needs AFZ approval.
Ajman Free Zone groups its activity register into four families: Commercial, Industrial, Services and Freelancer. Industrial is the production family, with 407 activities for making, processing, assembling and packaging goods. A business that buys and resells finished goods needs the [Commercial licence](/zones/ajman-free-zone/commercial-licence) instead. The Industrial list runs from heavy processing to light assembly. For accounting, bookkeeping, auditing and tax consultancy, [the Services licence register](/zones/ajman-free-zone/services-licence) lists the activities filed under Services.
Two Industrial licences can need very different premises. Aluminum Smelter and Extraction and Baby Food Manufacturing are both named entries on Ajman Free Zone's Industrial list, yet a smelter and a food plant are unlikely to fit the same unit. AFZ's land offer is build-to-suit, from 1000 m², and building needs AFZ approval against technical requirements. At the light end, Air Conditioner Units Assembling shows that a business that only assembles can belong here without transforming raw material.
Velarozone checks the intended production activity against Ajman Free Zone's Industrial list, and against the warehouse (from 100 m²) or land (from 1000 m²) that AFZ offers, before an application goes in. AFZ alone decides which activities qualify and what the licence costs, which is the line [Why work with Velarozone](/why-velarozone) draws around the advisory role.
What the Industrial classification covers
Each register entry names what is produced, such as Animal Feed Manufacturing, Adhesive Materials Manufacturing or Basic Organic Chemical Acids Manufacturing, and the licence attaches to that named activity. AFZ describes the licence as covering the import of raw materials, the manufacture of the listed goods and their export.
AFZ sets the premises options for this licence. Warehouses start at 100 m², come with free office space inside and make a business eligible for a minimum of 14 resident visas. Land starts at 1000 m², and the facility built on it needs AFZ approval based on technical requirements.
What a industrial licence here is structured for
It suits an operation that will physically produce, process or assemble inside the zone, in a leased warehouse from 100 m² or in a facility built on land from 1000 m².
Choose premises alongside the activity. Pre-built warehouses are ready to occupy, but a facility on leased land has to be built first, with AFZ approval based on technical requirements, so the two routes give very different start dates.
From the register
Named Professions on RAKEZ's Freelance List
A sample of the 407 activities Ajman Free Zone files under Industrial, exactly as the register names them. Activity names are the authority's own wording and are shown in English in every language; register codes are not published.
- Adhesive Cards Manufacturing
- Adhesive Materials Manufacturing
- Agarwood and Incense Manufacturing
- Agricultural Pests Pesticides Manufacturing
- Agricultural Tractors Manufacturing
- Air Conditioner Units Assembling
- Air Conditioner Units Manufacturing
- Air Filters Manufacturing
- Albums Manufacturing
- Aluminum Foils Manufacturing
- Aluminum Plates and Containers Manufacturing
- Aluminum Rolling
- Aluminum Smelter and Extraction
- Ambulant Manufacturing
- Animal Feed Manufacturing
- Animal Oil and Fat Manufacturing
- Anti Corrosion Materials Manufacturing
- Artificial Marble Manufacturing
- Artificial Plants & Flowers Making
- Asphalt and Paving Materials
- Assembling computers - Import & Export
- Assembling of water treatment systems and blending of related chemicals
- Auto Electrical Wires Manufacturing
- Auto Irrigation Devices Manufacturing
- Auto Upholstery manufacturing
- Automatic Gates & Barriers Manufacturing
- Automobile Assembling
- Baby Food Manufacturing
- Barbed Wires Manufacturing
- Basic Organic Chemical Acids Manufacturing
What this page does not decide
Decision factors
How the Permit Differs from a Company Licence
Velarozone's most recent read of Ajman Free Zone's own Industrial activity list, captured on 25 August 2026, shows the following.
- 407 activities sit under the Industrial family, separate from Ajman Free Zone's Commercial, Services, and Freelancer families.
- Named entries run from heavy processing, such as Aluminum Smelter and Extraction and Basic Organic Chemical Acids Manufacturing, to light assembly, such as Air Conditioner Units Assembling.
- AFZ's published licence pages do not say which Industrial activities need an outside approval, such as municipal, civil-defence or environmental sign-off. Treat food, chemical and metal-processing entries as the ones to check first, and ask for the requirement activity by activity before signing a lease.
- The family is defined around physical production; a business that only buys and resells goods someone else made falls under Ajman Free Zone's separate Commercial family instead. A branch of a foreign company can hold an industrial activity, but AFZ says its sales go through a UAE registered agent or distributor only.
- AFZ publishes three premises routes for this licence: customisable warehouses from 100 m², land from 1000 m² to build your own facility, and onsite accommodation for staff. Which route an activity needs is a question for AFZ, not something to assume from the activity name.
Where the Permit Is a Good Fit
- A business that will physically manufacture, process, assemble, or package goods inside the zone, not just trade the finished product.
- An operation that has already chosen between a warehouse unit from 100 m² and land from 1000 m² to build on, rather than treating the licence as the first step.
- A process whose output matches a named entry on Ajman Free Zone's own Industrial list, such as Animal Feed Manufacturing or Adhesive Materials Manufacturing, checked activity by activity.
- A business prepared to obtain any sector approval, such as food safety or environmental clearance, alongside the AFZ licence where the activity calls for one.
When to Choose a Company Licence Instead
- A trading business that imports finished goods and resells them unchanged belongs under Ajman Free Zone's Commercial family, which AFZ describes as covering storing, importing, exporting and distributing.
- A business with no premises plan yet. Land has to be built on before production can start, and AFZ approves that construction, so the licence alone does not give a place to produce.
- An operation that treats the licence date as the production start date, with environmental or safety approvals left as an afterthought.
- A process involving controlled chemicals, waste, or heavy emissions where no environmental or safety scoping has been done.
About this listing
Questions
Frequently asked
- What does an Industrial licence from Ajman Free Zone cover?
- Production activities: manufacturing, processing, assembling and packaging, drawn from a register of 407 named activities that Ajman Free Zone keeps separate from its Commercial, Services and Freelancer families. AFZ describes the licence as covering the import of raw materials, the manufacture of the listed goods and their export. It attaches to the specific activity named on it, not to manufacturing in general.
- Does an Industrial licence come with a factory or warehouse automatically?
- No. The licence and the premises are separate products. AFZ offers customisable warehouses from 100 m², land from 1000 m² to build your own facility, and onsite accommodation as the options suited to this licence. A warehouse makes a business eligible for a minimum of 14 resident visas. Which option fits an activity is for AFZ to confirm.
- Do Industrial activities need approval from anyone besides Ajman Free Zone?
- Possibly, depending on the activity. AFZ's published licence and product pages do not list outside approvals for Industrial activities, so ask AFZ in writing, activity by activity, whether a municipal, civil-defence or environmental approval applies, especially for food, chemical and metal processing. Construction on leased land also needs AFZ's own approval.
- How does an Industrial licence differ from Ajman Free Zone's Commercial licence?
- Industrial covers making goods on site: importing raw materials, manufacturing the listed goods and exporting them, as AFZ describes it. Commercial, which AFZ calls the Business licence, covers storing, importing, exporting and distributing goods. A business doing both checks with AFZ whether it needs activities from both families.
- What does an Industrial licence at Ajman Free Zone cost?
- AFZ sets the fees, and they vary by activity, premises and visa requirement. Land rent is paid a full year at a time at registration or renewal, and AFZ accepts three years upfront or more. Utilities are charged at Federal Electricity and Water Authority rates. Velarozone confirms current figures with AFZ rather than publishing them here.
Check your job title against RAKEZ's freelancer list
Velarozone can check your intended production activity against Ajman Free Zone's own Industrial licence list and the facility it implies before you apply.
General information drawn from the CBUAE Rulebook, including the Retail Payment Services and Card Schemes Regulation (C 15/2021), and Cabinet Resolution No. (134) of 2025 as published, not legal or tax advice. Rules and guidance change, so confirm the current text and each institution's own requirements before you submit.