14-03-2025
Why UAE's Ras Al Khaimah is emerging as a global investment hub
Few places blend raw natural beauty with ambition quite like Ras Al Khaimah. Along its 64km coastline, the Arabian Gulf stretches in sweeping turquoise, lapping against untouched shores. Inland, the terracotta dunes of Awafi roll endlessly under the desert sun, just before the peaks of Jebel Jais and the Hajar Mountain range that adorns the small emirate's horizon.
For years, RAK was seen as a quiet escape — less of a destination for business and more of a refuge from it. But now, the emirate is emerging as an investment powerhouse, drawing global businesses, luxury developers, and major hospitality brands. That shift isn't just anecdotal — it's backed by numbers. In 2024, the emirate saw a 12 per cent increase in tourism revenues, surpassing 1.28 million visitors, and it is on track to hit 3.5 million annually by 2030. With mega projects like the $2.4 billion Wynn Al Marjan Island, investors have taken notice of the emirate as a new real estate nesting ground.
'It's like Dubai 15 years ago,' said Marc von Grundherr, director of Benham & Reeves, a London-based real estate broker with offices scattered across the UK, Southeast Asia, and the GCC. Benham & Reeves helps investors and its clients buy both corporate and residential properties primarily in London, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Tokyo, and in Switzerland. 'We're like an advisory body as much as a real estate broker,' von Grundherr said. Ras Al Khaimah has only recently entered the Benham & Reeves portfolio as a destination for buyers over the last nine months. Von Grundherr has estimated that the company's investors in RAK currently account for around 7.3 per cent across the board, although this figure is up from 0 per cent last year.
Von Grundherr sees Ras Al Khaimah as an emerging hotspot for overseas investors, particularly for those priced out of Dubai's expensive real estate market. According to a report by KAYinvest, in the first three quarters of 2024, real estate sales in RAK reached Dh11.95 billion, up 70 per cent from the mere Dh3.84 billion in 2020, just four years prior. 'We think it's jumped very high up on the overseas purchases map because capital values are lower than they are in Dubai. Rental yield, we estimate, is going to be very strong and there's not so much being built up there that we expect capital values to set and to hold well,' he says. In other words, RAK is becoming more attractive to international investors because not only are property prices lower than they are in Dubai, but the market isn't oversaturated with new developments or intense corporate competition, which helps keep property values stable. Still, real estate prices are projected to creep up by eight per cent this year.
'We're telling [clients] the casino is coming and that is why we think it's going to be a hotspot,' von Grundherr says. Wynn Al Marjan Island, located just under 80km away from the Dubai International Airport, will not only house 1,542 rooms for guests staying at the casino — it will also connect to a 15,000-square-metre shopping plaza. The parent company Wynn Resorts, headquartered in Las Vegas, received the official gaming license for the RAK resort late last year, making it the first in the UAE to get the greenlight from the General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority.
Von Grundherr believes there will be both tourists and residents from Dubai and other emirates who will want to go to Ras Al Khaimah on the weekend for the casino, the nightlife, and the Nikki Beach resort being developed by RAK Properties. 'To support this growth, we are enhancing air connectivity to Ras Al Khaimah International Airport with direct flights from key source markets,' said Raki Phillips, CEO of the Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority (RAKTDA).
RAKEZ is working to strengthen the manufacturing sector by attracting foreign direct investment through, 'expanding its industrial zones, developing state-of-the-art facilities, and enhancing logistics infrastructure to meet the growing demand from international businesses'
Ramy Jallad, Rakez Group Ceo
While investors are eyeing RAK's growing property market, the surge in real estate is just one piece of the emirate's larger investment story. Beyond hospitality, businesses from various industries are setting up in RAK, drawn by the low costs and investor-friendly policies offered through hubs like RAKEZ, or Ras Al Khaimah Economic Zone, which offers businesses a tax-free service to get a business license. It caters to startups, individuals, small businesses, and established corporations equally, across various industries. 13,141 new companies set up shop in the emirate last year, up 66 per cent from the previous year, said Ramy Jallad, RAKEZ Group CEO.
'Ras Al Khaimah's industrial sector contributes more than one-third of the emirate's GDP,' Jallad said. The emirate is responsible for more than a quarter of the UAE's total manufacturing output, solidifying its role as a key player in the country's industrial economy. This industrial expansion is reflected in the growing presence of major international companies setting up operations in RAK. Finnish company Peikko, a global supplier of floor structures and precast construction materials, recently announced it will increase its manufacturing capacities by up to 40 per cent to meet regional demand. Beyond construction and materials, RAK is also making its mark in the food production sector. Italfoods, another US-based company specialising in Italian food products, manufactures up to 60 tonnes of cheese daily at its RAK facility, catering to both local and international markets.
The RAKEZ is working to strengthen the manufacturing sector by attracting foreign direct investment by 'expanding its industrial zones, developing state-of-the-art facilities, and enhancing logistics infrastructure to meet the growing demand from international businesses,' Jallad said.
For as little as Dh6,000, the RAKEZ provides a streamlined service for companies from any industry, a pathway to apply for a business license. Whether they're e-commerce startups, packaging firms, or global consultancies, the RAKEZ services all industries. It's not a hard sell either — Ras Al Khaimah offers some of the lowest business costs in the region, with operating fees running 50 per cent lower than the UAE average. Companies also benefit from 0 per cent corporate and personal income tax, 100 per cent foreign ownership, and full profit repatriation, according to the investment authority.
As RAK's business scene grows, so does its hospitality sector — the business-friendly environment isn't just attracting corporations — it's also fuelling growth in tourism. But which came first? With luxury resorts and Wynn Al Marjan Island drawing both tourists and investors, it's a chicken-or-egg moment where business and tourism fuel each other's rise. While the casino's opening in 2027 is expected to shake up the entire tourism scene in RAK, the emirate already houses 56 hotels and resorts. In a statement, Phillips said that the RAKTDA's goal is to have its tourism sector contribute to 'one-third of the emirate's GDP and create over 20,000 jobs by 2030'.
Georgina Kelly, founder & CEO of RAK Entrepreneurs, runs a grassroots business network for local entrepreneurs to meet with one another, trade, and network. ' I wanted to make sure that we, who are living and working here with our businesses, get a bite of the cherry ourselves,' Kelly said. Originally from Ireland, Kelly has lived in Ras Al Khaimah for more than a decade.
'Ras Al Khaimah is run by small and medium sized businesses (SMEs),' she said. One of RAK Entrepreneurs Group's goals is to be a platform to connect SMEs with big corporations in charge of building massive developments and major infrastructure projects. ' I know a lot of people think that suddenly the dam has burst and Ras Al Khaimah is the place to be,' Kelly said, but she argues the foundations for a healthy business ecosystem have been put in place well over a decade. However, she argues, when you have a big player like the casino, it shows confidence in the RAK infrastructure and economy, and that gives other people the faith to 'dip their toe' in the market as well.
' I believe that they're going to be creating a couple of thousand jobs,' Kelly says about the upcoming casinos and beach resorts. 'Now those jobs, those people in those jobs will need apartments to live in. Those apartments will need to be furnished. Those people, whether they're single or married with children, will need schools... They'll need all kinds of stuff, you know? So there's going to be a knock-on effect from the top down.'
Benham & Reeves currently has a few active projects just near the casino and the Nikki Beach resort, also set to open in 2027. 'It's a huge pull,' von Grundherr says about Wynn Al Marjan Island, adding that about 10 per cent of inquiries from individual investors are about Ras Al Khaimah. People who want to invest in the UAE like the storyline and promise of growth fuelled by immigration. 'But then they also want to come in at lower capital values because they think there will be higher returns,' he said. Benham & Reeves investors come from all over, including China, Singapore, Hong Kong, the UAE, and the UK.
In terms of challenges, Von Grundherr warns that foreign investors should be cautious when dealing with smaller developers due to potential restrictions. 'It's better to go with a long-term, master developer rather than a smaller firm,' he says, pointing to the track record of major players like Emaar and Nakheel as examples of stability in the UAE market. While other emirates like Dubai and Abu Dhabi might have strong investor protections, real estate laws and regulations in RAK are still developing.
Despite the risks foreign investors may face in RAK's property, industrial, and corporate sectors, the emirate's growing potential is impossible to overlook. Investors looking for strong returns are taking notice — and for some, like von Grundherr, that interest has become personal. 'I'm an investor myself,' he says. 'I owned property in Dubai, I sold it this year, and I'm actively considering Ras Al Khaimah at the moment.'
