An Asia market entry checklist is a list of specific items to confirm before you register a company: entity type, foreign ownership cap, minimum capital, licensing authority, tax registration, and visa route. Most guides on this topic tell you to “research the regulatory environment.” This one gives you the actual items to check, one at a time, across ten markets: Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Cambodia, Hong Kong, China, and the UAE.
Key Takeaways
- Check the ownership cap for your specific business activity, not the country as a whole. The same general idea can fall under different rules depending on how it gets classified.
- Check whether the minimum capital you need to incorporate is the same number you need for a work permit. In several markets, it isn’t.
- Check whether your registration timeline includes bank account opening. Incorporation and banking are usually quoted together but run on separate clocks.
Six Things to Check Before You Pick a Market
These apply no matter which of the ten markets below you’re leaning toward. Confirm each one before you commit capital, not after.
- ☐ Confirm the legal entity that lets a foreigner hold direct equity in your target market, and whether that entity can sponsor your own visa or work permit.
- ☐ Verify the foreign ownership cap for your exact business activity code, not a general category. Caps and exemptions in most of these markets are written at the activity level.
- ☐ Get the minimum capital figure from a source dated this year, and ask separately what a work permit or expat sponsorship actually requires in practice, since that number is often higher than the legal minimum to incorporate.
- ☐ Identify the licensing or investment promotion body for your sector, and ask them directly for a current processing timeline rather than relying on a published estimate.
- ☐ Confirm the tax registration steps that follow incorporation, and whether they happen automatically or need a separate filing.
- ☐ Ask whether a nominee shareholder or director arrangement is legal for your structure. Several markets on this list have increased enforcement against nominee arrangements used to get around ownership caps.
Notes from InvestinAsia Consultants
The mistake we see most often isn’t picking the wrong country. It’s picking the right country and the wrong entity for the specific activity. Two founders can want to run the same kind of e-commerce business in the same country and land under different ownership caps, because the classification code they registered under carries different rules. Check the activity code before you check anything else.
Also read: Corporate Tax Rates in Asia: A 2026 Comparison of 10 Countries
Country-by-Country Checklist
I’m flagging this up front: the figures below came from secondary sources, mostly law firm summaries and incorporation service sites, not directly from the government portals themselves. I did not verify each one against oss.go.id, acra.gov.sg, boi.go.th, or their equivalents. Several have changed within the past year. Treat every number here as a starting point to confirm, not a final answer.
Indonesia
- ☐ Confirm your KBLI code falls under a sector open to 100% foreign ownership on the Positive Investment List (Presidential Regulation No. 10 of 2021). Roughly three dozen sectors are capped between 49% and 67%.
- ☐ Check the current paid-up capital requirement for a PT PMA. I believe this dropped from IDR 10 billion to IDR 2.5 billion under BKPM Regulation No. 5 of 2025, effective October 2025, but confirm this is still current before budgeting around it.
- ☐ Ask whether your total investment plan needs to clear IDR 10 billion for your specific KBLI code, since this figure is separate from the paid-up capital requirement.
- ☐ Budget realistic time for OSS registration. I’d estimate four to six weeks once the KBLI code is confirmed, though this is a general estimate rather than a guaranteed timeline.
InvestinAsia’s PT PMA registration service can confirm your current KBLI classification and capital requirement before you file.
Malaysia
- ☐ Confirm your Sdn Bhd’s activity is open to 100% foreign ownership. Wholesale, retail, and trading activities need a separate WRT license, generally with RM1 million in paid-up capital per outlet.
- ☐ Don’t budget around the legal minimum paid-up capital of RM1. If you plan to bring in expatriate staff, check the Expatriate Services Division’s expectations directly, since I believe they generally look for RM500,000 to RM1,000,000 in paid-up capital before approving employment passes, though you should confirm the current figure with them.
- ☐ Separate the SSM registration timeline (typically a matter of days) from the ESD work permit approval timeline (longer, and harder to estimate reliably).
Also read: What Is a Sdn Bhd in Malaysia? for the full cost breakdown. InvestinAsia’s Malaysia team can check your activity against current foreign equity rules.
Singapore
- ☐ Confirm your activity qualifies for 100% foreign ownership. Most do, but regulated sectors like financial services carry additional licensing on top of standard incorporation.
- ☐ Don’t be misled by the S$1 minimum paid-up capital figure. It’s legally accurate but tells you nothing about what banks will expect for account opening.
- ☐ Confirm you have at least one director ordinarily resident in Singapore. If you’re not relocating on an Employment Pass, you’ll likely need a nominee director through a licensed corporate service provider.
- ☐ Ask ACRA or your service provider for a current processing estimate. I believe this typically runs one to three business days for straightforward applications, but confirm this before assuming it.
InvestinAsia’s Singapore setup service can walk you through the nominee director requirement.
Thailand
- ☐ Check whether your activity falls under Thailand’s default 49% foreign ownership cap under the Foreign Business Act B.E. 2542. Most activities do.
- ☐ If you need full ownership, confirm which of three routes applies to you: Board of Investment (BOI) promotion, a Foreign Business License for List 3 activities, or the US-Thailand Treaty of Amity if you qualify as an American investor.
- ☐ Ask whether your business plan is specific enough to pass BOI review. I’ve seen vague activity descriptions sent back for clarification, which adds real time to the process.
- ☐ Confirm current minimum registered capital for your structure. I believe standard companies need roughly THB 2 million and FBL-holding companies need more, but verify this against a current source rather than relying on this estimate.
- ☐ Separate the DBD registration timeline (days) from the BOI promotion timeline (I’d estimate 60 to 90 days or longer, not a fixed number).
InvestinAsia’s Thailand team can assess whether your activity is a realistic fit for BOI before you file.
Notes from InvestinAsia Consultants
Founders often treat BOI promotion as a formality because the tax benefits get so much attention. It isn’t. The application needs a business plan that maps to Thailand’s actual investment priorities, and a vague one is one of the more common reasons we see applications sent back.
Vietnam
- ☐ Confirm which certificates your project needs. Most foreign-invested projects require an Investment Registration Certificate (IRC) to approve the project and an Enterprise Registration Certificate (ERC) to establish the entity.
- ☐ Check the current sequencing rule. I believe the Law on Investment 2025 (No. 143/2025/QH15), effective March 1, 2026, now allows the ERC to be obtained before the IRC for some structures, which can let you sign leases and open accounts earlier. Confirm this applies to your specific project type.
- ☐ Ask whether your sector carries a fixed minimum charter capital. Most don’t, but charter capital still needs to be proportionate to your proposed project scope, and reviewers can push back on figures that look too low.
- ☐ Budget realistic time for document legalization and the mandatory eID digital filing requirement on top of the certificate timelines. I’d estimate six to ten weeks total as a general range, not a guarantee.
InvestinAsia’s Vietnam team can confirm which sequencing rule applies to your business line.
Philippines
- ☐ Check whether your activity sits on the current Foreign Investment Negative List. I believe the 13th list was issued via Executive Order No. 113 in April 2026 and reclassified several sectors, so confirm you’re looking at the current version, not an older one.
- ☐ If your activity isn’t on the list, confirm whether you’re a domestic market enterprise or an export enterprise. Export enterprises exporting at least 60% of output generally face no minimum capitalization.
- ☐ If you’re a domestic market enterprise, check the minimum paid-in capital needed to clear the 40% ownership cap. I believe this is USD 200,000, reducible to USD 100,000 if the enterprise uses advanced technology or employs at least 50 direct workers, but confirm the current thresholds with SEC.
- ☐ Budget several weeks for SEC registration, recognizing this is a general estimate rather than a fixed timeline.
InvestinAsia’s Philippines team can map your activity against the current negative list before you register.
Cambodia
- ☐ Confirm your activity isn’t on Cambodia’s negative list under the Law on Investment (2021). Most activities aren’t, and full foreign ownership is generally available outside it.
- ☐ Don’t expect a fixed statutory minimum capital requirement. Most companies declare a working figure, and I believe a common range is roughly USD 1,000 to 10,000, though this varies by business and isn’t a fixed rule.
- ☐ Check whether land ownership matters to your structure. Land ownership remains capped at 49% foreign equity by constitutional requirement, separate from company ownership rules.
- ☐ Confirm whether you need Qualified Investment Project status for tax incentives, which requires registering with the Council for the Development of Cambodia rather than going straight to the Ministry of Commerce.
InvestinAsia’s Cambodia team can help you determine which registration path fits your project.
Hong Kong
- ☐ Confirm there’s no ownership restriction that applies to you. Hong Kong places no general limit on foreign ownership of a private limited company.
- ☐ Don’t over-budget for share capital. There’s no statutory minimum under the Companies Ordinance, and most companies incorporate with a nominal HK$10,000.
- ☐ Confirm you have a company secretary who is ordinarily resident in Hong Kong or a licensed Trust and Company Service Provider. This is a genuine local requirement, not optional.
- ☐ Plan your banking timeline separately from incorporation. Incorporation itself typically runs three to five business days, but I’d estimate account opening for a non-resident applicant can take four to ten weeks at traditional banks, which is often the real bottleneck.
InvestinAsia’s Hong Kong team can help sequence incorporation and banking to avoid that gap.
China
- ☐ Check whether your sector sits on China’s current Foreign Investment Negative List. I believe the 2025 edition narrowed this to 106 entries, but confirm you’re looking at the current version.
- ☐ If your sector isn’t on the list, confirm you can establish a Wholly Foreign-Owned Enterprise (WFOE) without needing separate government pre-approval.
- ☐ Don’t assume a fixed minimum registered capital applies. China uses a subscription-based system with no fixed statutory minimum, but declared capital still needs to look realistic for your intended business scope to banks and licensing authorities.
- ☐ Ask your service provider for a current, sector-specific timeline rather than a general estimate. I’d expect a range of several weeks to a couple of months, but this varies enough by sector and location that a single number isn’t reliable.
InvestinAsia’s China team can confirm whether your sector currently sits on the negative list.
Dubai/UAE
- ☐ Don’t assume free zone ownership rules are still the deciding factor. Since the 2021 amendments to the UAE Commercial Companies Law, I believe most mainland commercial activities also allow full foreign ownership, with a handful of strategic sectors like defense and utilities still requiring Emirati equity.
- ☐ Check market access instead. A free zone company generally cannot sell directly to mainland customers without an additional route, which matters more than ownership percentage for most business models.
- ☐ Check tax treatment for your structure. I believe qualifying free zone income can access a 0% rate, while mainland profits above AED 375,000 pay the standard 9%, but confirm current thresholds and qualifying conditions before relying on this.
- ☐ Budget separately for free zone setup (I’d estimate one to three weeks) versus mainland setup (two to six weeks), treating both as general ranges rather than fixed numbers.
InvestinAsia’s Dubai team can model which route fits your actual customer base.
Still working through this checklist for your own market?
InvestinAsia has on-the-ground teams in all ten markets above who can confirm which current rule applies to your specific activity before you register.
A Few Checks That Apply Regardless of Country
- ☐ Confirm whether a nominee shareholder or director structure is legal for your situation. Thailand’s Department of Business Development has stepped up enforcement against nominee arrangements since 2024, with penalties that can include fines and imprisonment for the Thai party involved. Indonesia treats nominee arrangements as void under Article 10(1) of Law No. 25 of 2007, meaning a foreign party has no legal standing to recover shares held that way. I can’t say how strictly this is enforced in every market at every point in time, so ask locally.
- ☐ Ask whether your registration timeline estimate includes bank account opening. In several markets, incorporation and banking get quoted as one number when they’re really two separate processes with different bottlenecks.
- ☐ Check the activity classification code against the ownership rule, not the country against the ownership rule. This is the single most common source of surprises we see.
Also read: Business Opportunities in Asia: Where to Invest in 2026
Ready to work through this checklist with someone who does it daily?
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Frequently Asked Questions
Which Asian country is easiest to register a company in as a foreigner?
Hong Kong and Singapore are generally considered the fastest, both allowing full foreign ownership with incorporation often completed within a few business days. That said, ease of incorporation isn’t the same as ease of doing business overall. Both markets tend to require more work on the banking side than on registration itself.
Do all Asian countries allow 100% foreign ownership?
No, and this is worth checking carefully rather than assuming. Thailand caps most sectors at 49% by default and requires a BOI promotion, Foreign Business License, or treaty exemption to go higher. The Philippines requires a minimum paid-in capital before lifting its 40% cap on domestic market enterprises. Most other markets covered here allow full ownership in the large majority of sectors, with specific exceptions for land, media, defense, or SME-reserved activities.
What’s the cheapest Asian market to set up a company in?
On paper, Singapore’s S$1 minimum paid-up capital and Hong Kong’s lack of a statutory minimum make them look cheapest. In practice, the first-year cost in both markets tends to come from company secretary fees, registered address services, and nominee director arrangements where required, not from the capital figure itself.
Do I need a local partner to set up a company in Southeast Asia?
Not in most sectors, in most of the markets covered here. Thailand’s 49% default cap is the main exception where a local partner or an alternative structure is genuinely needed for most activities. Elsewhere, a local partner requirement usually applies to one specific restricted sector rather than to foreign investment in general, so it’s worth checking your specific activity rather than assuming a country-wide rule.
How long does company registration take in Vietnam compared to Indonesia?
Both run in a similar range in practice, roughly four to ten weeks once document preparation is included, though I’d treat this as a rough estimate rather than a guaranteed figure for either market. Vietnam’s process changed under a 2026 law that may allow some early steps to happen sooner, so it’s worth checking the current sequencing rule for your specific project type.
It creates real legal exposure in several of these markets. Thailand has increased enforcement against nominee arrangements in recent years, with penalties that can include fines and imprisonment. Indonesia treats nominee arrangements as legally void, meaning the foreign party has no standing to recover shares held that way. I can’t confirm how consistently this gets enforced across every case, so this is a risk to take seriously rather than a technicality to work around.
