Selling in the GCC as a Foreign Company: What You Need

You don't need a Gulf company to sell in the Gulf.

Foreign brands sell to Saudi and UAE shoppers every day without a local entity. They use marketplace programmes built for overseas sellers, ship parcels from abroad, or rent a local importer to clear their stock.

What you do need depends on the route. VAT, payments and licences change as you move from testing to scaling.

Here are the five routes, what each needs in all six GCC countries, and a simple way to pick yours.

What are your options as a foreign company?

You have five ways in. Most brands start with the first or second, then move down the list as sales grow:

• Cross-border marketplace programmes. Amazon Global Selling covers Amazon.sa and Amazon.ae. Noon has international seller accounts and noon Global Shipping for Chinese companies. The marketplace collects payment and pays you abroad.
• Your own store, shipping DDP. You run a Shopify (or similar) store abroad and ship each order by courier. DDP (Delivered Duty Paid) means you prepay duty and VAT, so the shopper pays nothing at the door.
• Importer of record (IOR). A licensed local company clears your bulk stock in its name. Your goods then sit in FBA, FBN or a 3PL warehouse for fast delivery, while you stay the seller.
• Distributor. A Gulf company buys your stock and resells it under its own licence. You're a supplier, so you give up margin and control of the customer.
• Your own entity. A UAE free zone company, a Saudi company registered with MISA, or a local company elsewhere. It's the most work, and the only route to domestic mada and cash on delivery in your own name.

Want a deeper look at route 3? Read our guide to importer of record services.

Which route works in which GCC country?

All five routes are open in every GCC state. What changes is the cost and paperwork of each.

The bottom row is the one that surprises people. Without a local company, you charge Gulf cards on international rails, or let a marketplace collect for you.

For the smaller four markets, our guide to ecommerce rules in Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman has the licence and VAT details.

What does each route need?

Four things decide whether a route is ready: VAT, payments, licences and who imports the goods.

VAT registration

Foreign sellers get no VAT threshold in the Gulf. The local thresholds only apply to resident businesses.

Here's how it plays out:

• Saudi Arabia (15%). Hold stock in the Kingdom, for example in FBA or a 3PL, and you register with ZATCA within 30 days of your first sale. The late fine is SAR 10,000.
• UAE (5%). The AED 375,000 threshold doesn't apply to foreign businesses. You register from your first taxable sale.
• Bahrain (10%) and Oman (5%). Foreign sellers with local stock register from the first sale. Oman also requires a local tax representative. DDP parcels into Bahrain are imports, so they need no registration.
• Qatar and Kuwait. Neither has VAT in 2026.

Shipping parcels from abroad usually works differently. Import VAT is paid at the border on each order, so the sale itself rarely triggers registration. The full Saudi process is in our guide to Saudi VAT for non-resident sellers.

Payments

Saudi shoppers love mada, the national debit network. Domestic mada only works for stores based in the Kingdom, with a Saudi company, bank account and gateway.

That's less of a barrier than it sounds. Most mada cards are co-badged with Visa or Mastercard, so a foreign store can charge them on the international rails. Marketplaces collect mada for you and pay out abroad.

The six workable routes, with costs, are in our guide to whether a foreign company can accept mada.

Licences and entity

You need no Gulf licence to sell cross-border through a marketplace, or to ship parcels from your home company. A licence comes into play once you trade from inside a country.

• UAE. Most foreign sellers use a free zone licence with an ecommerce activity. It's 100% foreign-owned and accepted by Amazon and noon. Budget about AED 10,250–25,000 for year one with one visa. Home-based permits like Dubai's eTrader need UAE residence, and goods trading on them is mainly for UAE and GCC nationals. See our UAE ecommerce licence guide.
• Saudi Arabia. A foreign owner registers with MISA, then gets a commercial registration (CR). Selling goods is trading, so 100% foreign ownership needs SAR 30 million in capital. Our MISA investment registration guide covers the steps.

One rule applies with no licence at all. Saudi Arabia's E-Commerce Law covers sellers abroad who sell to Saudi shoppers, so your store needs its disclosures and a returns policy from day one. Our Saudi e-commerce law guide lists them.

Importer of record

Someone local has to be named on the customs declaration for bulk stock. That's your entity, your distributor, a marketplace programme, or an IOR service.

IOR providers such as Carra Globe charge USD 300–800 per standard shipment, plus duty and VAT at cost. In Saudi Arabia, SABER certificates are held by a Saudi importer, so your IOR holds them for regulated products.

Don't borrow a local licence

The tempting shortcut is a friend's licence. A local person lends you their CR, freelance document or bank account, and you trade through it.

In Saudi Arabia, that's tasattur (commercial concealment). The penalties reach 5 years in prison and SAR 5 million in fines, plus deportation for the non-Saudi.

Worked example: a UK skincare brand's path into the Gulf

Here's how a small UK skincare brand might grow, one step at a time.

How to pick your route

1

Choose your first country

Saudi Arabia for size, the UAE for the easiest setup. Many brands launch both through one marketplace account.

2

Check your products

Cosmetics, food, electronics and toys usually need certificates, which push you toward an IOR or distributor.

3

Pick a channel

Start on a marketplace or with DDP parcels from your own store. You can test demand in weeks.

4

Sort VAT before stock lands

If stock will sit in a Gulf warehouse, register for VAT first. Price every listing VAT-inclusive.

5

Set up payments

Use the marketplace payout, or a gateway that handles co-badged mada, Apple Pay and BNPL.

6

Scale with local stock

Add an IOR and FBA, FBN or a 3PL. Consider your own entity once sales justify it.

Notes for Chinese sellers

• noon Global Shipping needs only a Chinese business registration. You drop orders at noon's Shenzhen hub, and noon handles customs and delivery across the GCC. See our noon Global Shipping guide.
• Amazon Global Selling China onboards Chinese companies for Amazon.sa and Amazon.ae. FBA stock still needs an IOR and a VAT number.
• Document legalisation is easier now. The Apostille Convention has applied between China and Saudi Arabia since 7 November 2023, so company papers need one apostille, not embassy chains.

Notes for UAE-based companies

• A UAE company is still a foreign company in Saudi Arabia. Saudi stock means Saudi VAT registration and an IOR.
• noon Global store lets a UAE VAT-registered seller list in Saudi Arabia with no Saudi CR or Saudi VAT number. Noon converts the price and adds Saudi VAT.
• Free zone or mainland? Our free zone vs mainland guide explains which suits online selling.

Start with the route that gets your products in front of Gulf shoppers fastest. For every other rule, the GCC regulations hub is your map.