Salik Company PJSC and the Dubai Integrated Economic Zones Authority (DIEZ) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to bring unified smart access and parking management to more than 21,000 spaces across three Dubai free zones — Dubai Airport Freezone (DAFZ), Dubai Silicon Oasis (DSO), and Dubai CommerCity (DCC).
The agreement, signed on 16 July 2026, is Salik's clearest step yet beyond road tolling. According to DIEZ and Salik, the partnership opens what DIEZ calls a "new business vertical" for the tolling operator, pushing its e-wallet and access-control stack into commercial parking on private free-zone land.
What the MoU actually covers
This is a framework document, not a construction contract. Under it, DIEZ and Salik have agreed to work jointly on:
- Access control systems across the three zones' parking areas
- Parking management and traffic-flow tools
- Unified operating standards for entry, payment, and enforcement
- Integration between Salik's technical platform and DIEZ's zone infrastructure
Two gaps remain, and both matter. The financial value of the deal has not been disclosed. Neither party has published a rollout schedule for the three zones. That is normal at MoU stage — commercial and technical scope get pinned down in follow-on contracts — but tenants planning fleet or facilities budgets should treat any launch window as unofficial until Salik or DIEZ confirms one.
Why this matters for DAFZ, DSO, and CommerCity tenants
The three zones sit at different corners of Dubai's economy. DAFZ hugs DXB and runs on aviation logistics. DSO is a tech park with a resident tenant base. Dubai CommerCity anchors the emirate's e-commerce and omnichannel ambitions. Under the new framework, businesses registered inside them can expect:
- One Salik e-wallet covering tolls, parking, and — once integrated — zone access
- Consolidated corporate expense tracking, since parking charges land in the same account as fleet toll usage
- Consistent parking policy across all three zones, replacing today's patchwork of cards and passes
- Faster ingress and egress if number-plate recognition is deployed at the barrier, as Salik uses elsewhere
For companies running fleets of employee cars or courier vehicles, the upside is administrative more than dramatic. Fewer separate accounts. Less reconciliation work at month-end. A single support line when something breaks at a gate at 8am.
DIEZ described the partnership as a "new business vertical" for Salik in its statement announcing the MoU.
Salik's 2026 push into parking
The DIEZ deal is Salik's third parking play in six months.
- In January, Salik went live with a 10-year e-wallet parking arrangement at Dubai Airports — around 7,400 spaces across Terminals 1–3 and the Cargo Mega Terminal, activated on 22 January 2026.
- At Dubai Harbour, Shamal Holding and Salik enabled e-wallet payments for visitor parking at the waterfront destination.
- Salik continues integrating with the RTA on on-street and off-street parking payments across the emirate.
Add the DAFZ, DSO, and CommerCity capacity, and Salik's addressable parking footprint has expanded quickly — from zero to a network that stretches across airports, waterfront leisure, and inland free zones.
Where this fits in Dubai's broader plan
Both parties framed the MoU inside two anchoring strategies. Dubai Economic Agenda D33 aims to double the emirate's economy by 2033, with private-sector partnerships and digital infrastructure among its pillars. The Dubai 2040 Urban Master Plan pushes for denser, mobility-friendly commercial districts — the free zones squarely among them.
Analogues abroad give a sense of trajectory. European operators such as Aparkam and Empark run large concession portfolios through unified platforms. In the US, ParkMobile scaled a single-app model into a national footprint. Salik is compressing a similar consolidation into a much shorter timeframe, using its captive toll base as commercial leverage.
What's next to watch
Two signals will tell tenants when the change becomes real. First, a firmer statement from DIEZ or Salik on which zone launches first and on what timeline. DAFZ is operationally the most complex thanks to its DXB adjacency, so DSO or CommerCity may serve as the pilot. Second, disclosure at Salik's next reporting cycle: as a DFM-listed company (SALIK, listed 29 September 2022), Salik will need to characterise the parking segment's contribution to guidance sooner rather than later.
