Dubai Production City

Overview

Dubai Production City, formerly known as the International Media Production Zone (IMPZ), is TECOM Group’s dedicated free zone for media production, print, publishing, and content creation businesses. Established in 2003 and rebranded as Dubai Production City in 2015, the zone was originally developed to serve the print media and packaging industry but has since broadened its scope to encompass the full range of media production activities as the media landscape evolved from print to digital and broadcast.

Located in the Arjan area of Dubai, the zone sits adjacent to Dubai Studio City and within the broader New Dubai development corridor, benefiting from the amenity infrastructure of the surrounding residential and commercial development that has transformed the area significantly since the early 2000s. The zone has its own shopping mall, residential towers, and hospitality facilities nearby, providing tenants with a more complete work-live environment than was available in the zone’s earlier years.

Dubai Production City operates as a full TECOM Group free zone, offering 100% foreign ownership, zero taxation, and full profit repatriation. Its licensing framework covers print production, packaging, publishing, film and television, broadcasting, music production, and a range of digital and creative media activities, making it one of the more broadly scoped media-focused free zones in the UAE.

Key Benefits

Dubai Production City’s combination of TECOM Group’s institutional credibility with competitive pricing relative to Dubai Media City makes it an attractive middle-ground option for media production businesses. Companies that require a reputable Dubai media license but find Dubai Media City’s pricing stretched can establish in Dubai Production City with the assurance that they are operating within one of the UAE’s most established free zone networks.

The zone’s support for both traditional print/packaging production and modern digital and broadcast media activities gives it unusual flexibility among Dubai’s media-focused free zones. Businesses that straddle the physical and digital media production divide — packaging design companies with digital marketing arms, for example — can accommodate their full activity scope within a single Dubai Production City license.

Who Should Choose Dubai Production City?

Dubai Production City is well-suited for print media companies, packaging producers, publishers, small to medium film and video production houses, music studios, advertising agencies, and graphic design firms that want a TECOM-backed Dubai media license at a lower cost than Dubai Media City. It is particularly appropriate for businesses that have both physical production requirements — print, packaging, studio recording — and creative/digital activities that they wish to operate under a single license. Companies requiring the premium brand positioning of Dubai Media City or the specialised broadcast infrastructure of Dubai Studio City should consider those options, but for businesses seeking cost-effective access to Dubai’s media ecosystem, Dubai Production City provides genuine value.