Business License in China

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Obtain a notice of pre-approval of the company name

The applicant picks up the application for company name

pre-approval from the local Administration of Industry and
Commerce (AIC), or otherwise, downloads the form from
AICs Web site. The applicant can be the representative
designated by all the shareholders or the agent entrusted by
all the shareholders. The completed application form shall be
signed by all shareholders of the company. The application
form together with the business licenses or other registration
certificates (if the shareholders are companies or other
eligible entities) and the photocopy of the identity card of
the individual shareholders shall be filed with the AIC. 1 day
Effective July 1, 2004, enterprise name registration must
follow the amended State Administration of Industry and
Commerce (SAIC) rules (that is, the new Enterprise Name
Registration Administration Implementing Measures, or qi ye
ming cheng deng ji guan li shi shi ban fa). According to the
new registration rules, if the applicant goes directly to the
AIC, a proposed company name is approved or rejected on
the spot. This is newly regulated by Article 24 of the
aforementioned measures and is implemented in practice.
However if the application is made through mail, fax, email,
etc., the proposed company name will be approved or
rejected within 15 days.

no charge

Open a preliminary bank account; deposit fund in the

account and obtain the certificate of deposit

The Company Law was modified on October 27, 2005, and

became
effective
on
January
1,
2006.
Article 26 lowers the minimum capital requirement to CNY
30,000. According to this article, the shareholders, after
paying the required initial capital contribution, may pay off
their remaining capital contributions, if any, within 2 years
after establishing the company. Note that the required initial

1 day

no charge

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capital contribution is at least 20% of the proposed

companys registered capital and shall not be lower than the
legal requirement for the registered capital for particular
industries.
Article 27 provides the form of the capital contribution.
According to this article, if the initial capital contribution is in
cash, the shareholders must (a) open a preliminary bank
account after obtaining preapproval of the company name;
and (b) deposit the initial capital contribution into the bank
account. If the initial capital contribution is in nonmonetary
assets, the shareholder must transfer the property title of
the assets to the company and the value of such assets must
be appraised. The initial capital contribution must be verified
by legally established verification institutes. The revised
Company Law enables shareholders to contribute up to 70%
of the registered capital of a limited liability corporation in
nonmonetary assets that can be monetarily valued and
legally transferred.
Obtain capital verification report from an auditing firm
3

An auditing firm has to prepare a report that verifies the

company capital as part of the documents necessary for
registration.

2 days

Apply for registration certification "business license of

enterprise legal person" with SAIC, the organization code
certificate issued by the Quality and Technology Supervision
Bureau and registration for both state and local tax with the
tax bureau
4

11 days
Since July 2010, it has been possible to use the "parallel
application and review" process in most districts of Shanghai.
The entrepreneur can submit the documents for business
license, certificate for quality and technology and state and
local tax at the same time at one window. All the application
forms can be downloaded from SAICs website. The agent at
the window will scan all the documents and send them

CNY 350

no charge (Fee
exempted for micro
and small size
companies from
2012 to 2014 otherwise 0.08% of
registered capital)

No. Procedure
electronically to all relevant agencies. The business license is
approved first and the two other agencies can give their
approval immediately after. They are notified online once
the business license has been approved.
1/ BUSINESS LICENSE:
To obtain registration certification, the company must file a
completed application form along with the following
documents:
Notice of approval of company name
Lease or other proof of company office.
Capital verification certificate or appraisal report
Articles of association, executed by each shareholder
Representation authorization
Identity cards of shareholders and identification documents
of officers
Appointment documents and identification documents
(certifying name and address) of the directors, supervisors,
and officers.
Appointment documents and identification documents of
the companys legal representative
If the initial contribution is in nonmonetary assets, the
document certifying transfers of the property title of such
assets
Other documents as required by the authorities
According to the new administrative rules, application forms
may be downloaded from the local government authorities
Web sites. Statutory time limits were introduced for
acceptance of application documents and for registration
decision making, which differs according to the form of
application. Documentation requirements for company
registration were standardized. The Registry is now required
to publicly display them.
According to Article 52, if an application is filed (by letter,
telegraph, telex, fax, email, or electronic data exchange), the
Company Registry must, within 5 days of receiving the

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No. Procedure
relevant application documents and materials, decide
whether to accept the application. If the application
documents and materials are incomplete or do not meet the
statutory requirements, the Registry must inform the
applicant, within 5 days, of all contents subject to
supplementation and correction.
According to Article 54, if the organ in charge of company
registration must verify the application documents and
materials, it shall decide whether to approve the registration
within 15 days of acceptance. In other cases, the organ must
decide whether to approve the registration on the spot or
within 15 days of acceptance.
According to Article 55, if the organ decides to approve a
company registration, it shall issue a notice on approval for
establishment registration and inform the applicant to
collect its business license within 10 days.
The Notice on the Exemption of Some Administrative Fees
for Small and Micro Enterprises (CZ [2011] No.104), co-issued
by the Ministry of Finance and the National Development
and Reform Commission, exempts micro and small size
companies from paying several administrative fees between
January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2014. This includes the
business registration fee (0.08% of the registered capital).
2/ ORGANIZATION CODE CERTIFICATE WITH THE QUALITY
AND TECHNOLOGY SUPERVISION BUREAU:
The company must apply for the organization code certificate
within 30 days of obtaining the business license, by filing a
completed application form with the Shanghai Organization
Code Management Center (a branch of the Quality and
Technology Supervision Bureau) along with the following
documents:
Business license (original and one copy)
Identity card of the legal representative (one copy)
The Notice on the Exemption of Some Administrative Fees

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No. Procedure
for Small and Micro Enterprises (CZ [2011] No.104), co-issued
by the Ministry of Finance and the National Development
and Reform Commission, exempts micro and small size
companies from paying several administrative fees between
January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2014. The production cost
of CNY 18 for Organization Code Certificate is exempted for a
micro or a small size company. The remaining amount CNY
102 still needs to be paid to Quality and Technology
Supervision Bureau for the technical service and production
cost of IC card.
3/ REGISTRATION WITH LOCAL AND STATE TAXES:
The tax registration procedures have been simplified since
2004 with the implementation of the Administration
Measures of Tax Registration, issued by the State Taxation
Bureau. Two separate taxation authorities still exist (the
state taxation bureau and local taxation bureau). However,
company founders are required to file tax registration only
once, to either of these two authorities. The statutory time
limit is 30 days from the date of receiving the registration
application.
The company must file the tax registration form and the
initial tax reporting forms. Together with those forms, the
company submits for review the following documents:
Business license duplicate (original and one copy)
Organization code certificate (original and one copy)
Identification card of the legal representative (original and
one copy)
Identification card of the taxation personnel (original and
one copy)
Company seal and financial seal
Office lease agreement and receipt(s) for rent paid
Articles of association (original and one copy) and bankissued account-opening certificate (original and one copy)
Capital verification report
Photocopy of property ownership certificate
Land use right certificate

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Commitment letter regarding the authenticity of the

documents submitted
The Notice on the Exemption of Some Administrative Fees
for Small and Micro Enterprises (CZ [2011] No.104), co-issued
by the Ministry of Finance and the National Development
and Reform Commission, exempts micro and small size
companies from paying several administrative fees between
January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2014.
Obtain the approval to make a company seal from the police
department

If all the shareholders are individual investors, the

registration file will include the duplicate of the business
license (the original and one copy) and the legal
representatives identification card. If registration is
approved, a notice to make the company seal will be issued
to the company.

1 day

no charge

Make a company seal

To make the company seal, the company shall designate a

company possessing a Shanghai Special Industry Permit
1 day
(company seal carving)
(). This process costs
CNY 70300, depending on the design and the quality.

Pay the fee for the organization code certificate issued by the
Quality and Technology Supervision Bureau at the time of
pick-up
7

1 day
Prior to pick up the organization code certificate issued by
the Quality and Technology Supervision Bureau and pay the
fees, the entrepreneur had to obtain the company seal.

CNY 300

CNY 102
(Production cost of
CNY 18 for
Organization Code
Certificate is
exempted for micro
and small size
companies from
2012 to 2014)

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Register with the local statistics bureau

Within 30 days of obtaining the business license, the

company must apply for statistics registration by submitting
1 day
to the local statistics bureau a completed statistics
registration form along with the following documents:
Business license (one copy)
Organization code certificate (one copy)

no charge

Open a formal bank account of the company and transfer the

registered capital to the account
1 day
(simultaneous
*9
no charge
The procedures and required documents for opening a
with previous
company bank account and transferring the registered
procedure)
capital to it may vary depending on each banks practice.
Apply for the authorization to print or purchase financial
invoices/receipts
After registering for state or local taxes and obtaining the tax
registration certificate, the company must apply separately
to the relevant authorities (that is, the state and local
taxation offices) for approval to purchase and issue financial
10 invoices/receipts. The taxation authority will issue the
10 days
invoice purchasing book, if it agrees to grant the company
such qualification, upon reviewing the following submitted
documents:
Tax registration certificate (one copy)
Identity card of taxation personnel (one copy)
Application forms
Models of invoice seal
Purchase uniform invoices
The company must obtain and submit an application form to
11 purchase uniform invoices (). The form 1 day
and the authorization book (from Procedure 10) must be
submitted to the Tax Office.

no charge (Fee
exempted for micro
and small size
companies from
2012 to 2014)

no charge (Fee
exempted for micro
and small size
companies from
2012 to 2014 otherwise CNY 1.051.67 per book of

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The VAT and ordinary invoices are published by the tax

authority for anti-forgery reasons (with few exceptions).
Taxpayers buy VAT and ordinary invoices from the tax
authority.

to

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invoices)

The Notice on the Exemption of Some Administrative Fees

for Small and Micro Enterprises (CZ [2011] No.104), co-issued
by the Ministry of Finance and the National Development
and Reform Commission, exempts micro and small size
companies from paying several administrative fees between
January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2014.
File for recruitment registration with local career service
center

12

Within 30 days of recruiting employees, a new company

1 day
must register with the local career service center, sponsored
by the local government. Relevant application forms which
can be electronically downloaded or obtained from the local
career service center shall be filled and submitted.

no charge

Register with Social Welfare Insurance Center

Within 30 days of establishment, the company must register
for the payment of employee social insurance with the local
social insurance office by submitting a completed social
insurance registration form and the following documents:
Company seal
1 day
* Duplicate of business license (original and one copy)
(simultaneous
no charge
with previous
13 Organization code certificate (original and one copy)
procedure)
After all these documents have been verified, the authorities
will issue a notice to open a social insurance account for the
company. The company must then apply to open a special
account at the designated bank. The local social insurance
office will issue the social insurance registration card to the
company on receiving bank notification of account opening.

Business License in Indonesia

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Obtain the standard form of the company deed ; arrange for

a notary electronically; obtain clearance for the Indonesian
company's name at the Ministry of Law and Human Rights.

The uniqueness of the company name must be checked to

ensure that it has not been used by another Indonesian
company, to avoid a rejection by the Ministry of Justice and
Human Rights of the company's deed of establishment and
articles of association. Because the process must be done
through a computerized processing system, the reservation
and clearance must be done by a notary public (because the
new computerized system for nontax state revenue
payments may be accessed only by a notary public). The
reserved name will be blocked for 60 days. If the founding
shareholders are confident that the same name has not
been used by another Indonesian company, this procedure
4 days
is not necessary.
Under Article 16 of Law No. 40 of 2007 on Limited Liability
Companies, company must not use a name which:
a. has been lawfully used by another company or is similar
to the name of another company;
b. contravenes public order and/or decency;
c. is identical or similar to the name of a state agency,
government agency, or international agency, except with
their approval;
d. does not conform to the purposes and objectives and
business activities of the company, or only designates the
purposes and objectives of the company without having its
own name;
e. consists of numbers or a set of figures, a letter or a set of
letters that do not form any words; or
f. means a Company, a legal entity, or a civil enterprise

included in
procedure 4

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4 days

IDR 4,464,464

1 day

no charge

(persekutuan perdata).
The Ministry of Law and Human Rights may reject a name
application reservation if the requested name is, among
others, the same or resembles similarities to name of other
companies.
Government Regulation No. 26 of 1998 on Use of Names of
Limited Liability Companies also provides that an
application to use a name that is the same or similar to a
well known trademark shall be rejected unless approval is
obtained from the holder of the trademark
Notarize company documents before a notary public

Law No. 30 of 2004 concerning Notaries (Article 36

paragraph 3) stipulates that the maximum notary fee for
objects of deed with an economical value of above IDR
100,000,000 up to IDR 1,000,000,000 is 1.5% of the total
value of the object of the deed.
Obtain the Building Management Domicile Certificate

For companies that locate in an office building, business

founders need to get the Building Management Domicile
Certificate from the Building Management Office before
applying for the Certificate of Company Domicile.
Apply for the Certificate of Company Domicile

All Indonesian limited liability companies must have a

certificate of company domicile. This certificate is issued by
the head of the village (the Lurah) where the company is
2 days
located or by the building management if office space is
leased. There is no official fee for this certificate. This
certificate is required for several documents (SIUP, TDP,
etc.)
Pay the State Treasury for the non-tax state revenue (PNBP)
1 day
fees for legal services at a bank

no charge

IDR 200,000 (name

check) + IDR
1,580,000 non-tax

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Because the new computerized system for nontax state

revenue payments (PNBP)which has been implemented
by the Ministry of Justice and Human Rightsmay be
accessed only by a notary public, payment for registering or
establishing a company is normally easier through the
notary.
The requirement to pay the non-tax state revenue (PNBP)
fee for legal services in relation to the establishment of a PT
is obtained from the information stated in the website of
the Legal Entity Administration System (known as SABH
(Sistem Administrasi Badan Hukum)
(www.sisminbakum.go.id), where it is informed that there is
a PBNP fee to be paid for the purpose of company
establishment in the amount of IDR 200,000 and to be paid
through the Notary.

Associated Costs
state revenue
(PNBP) fees for
legal services

Apply to the Ministry of Law and Human Rights for approval

of the deed of establishment

Based on Article 9, 10, 29 and 30 Indonesian Company Law

No. 40 year 2007, the application for approval of Ministry of
Law and Human Right (the ""Ministry of Law"") on
establishment of company should be able to file
electronically by attaching with the certificate of bank
account, copy of the relevant bank transmittal advice,
NPWP (Tax Registration Number), Certificate of Company
Domicile. The process will be taken as follows:
The application should be filled at the latest 60 days since 7 days
the date of establishment deed;
Since the application has already fulfilled, the Ministry of
Law directly electronically stated no objection on said
application. However, if the application is not fulfilled, the
Ministry of Law will directly electronically state his objection
on said application;
in 30 days since the date of no objection by Ministry of
Law, the applicant should submit the original application
and supporting documents;
14 days after fulfillment of above requirements, Ministry
of Law will issue the legalization on the establishment of the

included in
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company;
Data of company which its establishment has been
approved by Ministry of Law i.e. name, domicile, object and
purpose, period, Capital Company will be inserted into
Company Registry.
The Ministry of Law will announce the establishment of
company in Supplement State Gazette (TBNRI) within 14
days of the Ministry's Approval Letter;
The cost of this procedure is based on the Schedule to the
Government Regulation Number 38 of 2009 concerning
Types and Tariffs on Non-Tax State Revenues Applied for in
the Department of Law and Human Rights which comes into
effect on 28 May 2009.

Apply at the One Stop Service for the permanent business

trading license (Surat Izin Usaha Perdagangan, SIUP) and the
company registration certificate (Tanda Daftar
Perusahaan/TDP)

The Surat Izin Usaha Perdagangan (SIUP) constitutes the

business license for a non-facility company engaging in
trading business. The SIUP contains details about the
company activities and the person in charge of the company
(normally the President Director). The Ministry of Industry
and Trade, which issues the SIUP for a non-facility company,
may require a letter of good conduct from the Indonesian 15 days
police in support of the person in charge of the company.
Normally, the following copy of documents should be
attached for the application for a SIUP:
The articles of association (copy).
An attestation of location and address of the companys
offices.
Identity card of the company President Director.
Notary deeds
After reviewing the application, the Municipality passes it to
the technical agency at the regional office for cooperatives
for further review it takes 2 days to get the signature of the
head of that office as the authority is not delegated. Once

no charge

No. Procedure

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the application is back, the SUIP is provided.

SIUP and TDP for a limited liability company can be obtained
at the One Stop Shop Service, through the Standard
Operating Procedure.
Based on Regulation of Ministry of Trading No. 36/MDag/PER/9/2007 on Issuing Business Trading License (SIUP),
the SIUP will be issued in 3 days since the receiving of
completed documents but in practice it takes 3-7 days.
The Trade Minister Regulation No. 36/M-DAG/PER/9/2007
as amended by the Trade Minister Regulation No. 46/MDAG/PER/9/2009 classified the SIUP based on the
enterprises net assets as follows:
Article 3
(1) Small Scale SIUP must be held by businesses engaging in
trade having a net asset of more than Rp. 50.000.000,- (fifty
million Rupiah) up to no more than Rp. 500.000.000,- (five
hundred million Rupiah) not including land and building on
which the business operates;
(2) Medium Scale SIUP must be held by businesses engaging
in trade having a net asset of more than Rp. 500.000.000,(five hundred million Rupiah) up to no more than Rp.
10.000.000.000,- (ten billion Rupiah) not including land and
building on which the business operates;
(3) Large Scale SIUP must be held by businesses engaging in
trade having a net asset of more than Rp. 10.000.000.000,(ten billion Rupiah) not including land and building on which
the business operates.
Register with the Ministry of Manpower

According to Law No. 7/1981, companies with more than 10

workers or a monthly payroll of IDR 1 million must register 14 days
with the Ministry of Manpower. This procedure can be
completed concurrently with other post-registration
procedures by filing the manpower compulsory report and
company regulations with the Ministry of Manpower.

no charge

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7 days
(simultaneous
with previous
procedure)

no charge

1 day
(simultaneous
with previous
procedure)

no charge

Although there is no official fee, there may an unofficial

administrative fee that depends on negotiation and usually
starts at IDR 100,000.
Apply for the Workers Social Security Program (Jamsostek
Program)
According to legal provisions on workers social security
(Law No. 3/1992), it is mandatory for every company or
individual employing 10 workers or more or generating a
monthly payroll of at least IDR 1 million a month to apply
for the Workers Social Security Program (Jamsostek),
operated by the executing agency. This social security
* 9 program covers occupational accident security, death
security, old age security, and health maintenance.
A company or an individual is not obligated to enroll its
employees in the social security program if it offers an
independent employee social security program with
benefits comparable or better than those offered by the
Package of Basic Health Maintenance Security (according to
Government Regulation No. 14/1993, as amended by
Government Regulation No. 28 /2002).
Obtain a taxpayer registration number (NPWP) and a VAT
collector number (NPPKP)
Regulation of Directorate General of Taxation No.
44/PJ/2008 which comes into effect on 20 October 2008
concerning Procedures of Application of Taxpayer
* Registration and/or Taxable Entrepreneur Number,
10 Amendment of Data and Transfer of Taxpayer and/or
Taxable Entrepreneur aimed to enhance the service to the
taxpayer. The regulation states that within 1 year as of the
issuance of NPWP, the relevant Tax Office will conduct field
confirmation regarding the correct data/identity of the
taxpayer a. The person/entity can apply for NPWP in the
relevant tax office where the company is located or can
apply it online through http://www.pajak.go.id, choose e-

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registration to make account as a taxpayer and then follow

the procedures therein, by filling the form and attaching
copies of deed of establishment and its amendment if any,
identity card/KTP of one of active Director, statement letter
regarding confirmation on place of business from one of the
active Director (form is provided), POA and identity
card/KTP of the authorized. The NPWP card and Registered
Statement Letter is obtained within 1 calendar day upon the
completeness of the required document without and fee,
charge and/or retribution.

Business License in Laos

No. Procedure

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Apply for a Name Reservation Certificate

It is required to obtain a Name Reservation Certificate

from the Enterprise Registry Office ("ERO") within the
Ministry of Industry and Commerce ("MOIC"). All
companies are required to obtain a Name Reservation
Certificate before applying to the ERO for an Enterprise
1 day
Registration Certificate. A completed Application for
Reservation of Company Name, listing three potential
names for the company to be established, and a signed
Contract of Incorporation (if there are multiple
shareholders) in the format approved by the MOIC must
be submitted to the ERO in order to obtain a Name
Reservation Certificate.
Apply for an Enterprise Registration Certificate and apply
for tax registration certificate
1 week for
compamy
Founders shall complete the application form for
registration and 2
enterprise registration in the MOIC standard application weeks for tax
form attaching the following required documents: (i) 3
registration
copies of the Contract of Incorporation, (ii) 3 original
copies of the signed Articles of Association in the MOIC

LAK 10,000

See procedure
details

No. Procedure
standard template, (iii) 3 copies of the resolution of
founders of the company, (iv) 3 copies of the Power of
Attorney in the MOIC standard template (if another
person is assigned to submit the application), (v) 3 copies
of ID card/passport of founders or business licenses for
entities, (vi) 6 photos size 3cmx4cm of the nominated
Managing Director.
Once the company obtains the Enterprise Registration
Certificate, it shall thereafter register its Articles of
Association with the State Assets Management
Department (SAMD), Ministry of Finance. For registration
the following are required: letter request, the original
signed Articles of Association, and copy of ERC.
Enterprises operating in the Lao PDR are subject to direct
and indirect taxes. Direct taxes are profit tax, income tax
and fees; and indirect taxes are business turnover tax,
value-added tax and use tax. Value added tax replaced
the business turnover tax. A Tax Registration Certificate is
neither issued nor required to be renewed annually. The
fee for the Tax Registration Certificate depends on the
annual income of the Company. The fee for a company
with an annual business turnover of US $113,000 is LAK
983,018,852. The application fee is LAK 25,000.
The company shall complete the application for the Tax
Identification Number Certificate and enterprise
registration in the standard form attach with the required
documents and submitted at the Tax Authority, who will
consider the application and issue the Tax Identification
Number Certificate.
The application for tax certificate can be submitted at the
same time as the company registration (at the One-stop
shop).
Cost details:
LAK 10,000 (Incorporation form) + LAK 70,000

Time to Complete

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No. Procedure

Time to Complete

Associated Costs

(Application form) + LAK 300,000 (Registration service

fee) + LAK 25,000 (Registration form for taxes) + LAK
100,000 (Tax certificate)
Apply for an Operating License from relevant Ministry

Upon obtaining the Enterprise Registration Certificate,

Tax Identification Number Certificate, and enterprise
registration number with the Tax Authority, the company
2-3 weeks
shall complete the application form for factory operation
with the DICV standard form and required documents.
These are submitted at the DICV, which will consider the
application and require inspection of the location of the
factory before issuing the license.

LAK 50,000

Obtain Approval of Content on the Company Signage and

the Company Signage Building Permit
The company must obtain content approval and a
building permit. For the content approval application, the
company must complete the application form in MICT
standard form and provide the following: (i) the name of
5 days
the company in Lao, enterprise code provided under the
(simultaneous with LAK 10,000
*4
enterprise registration certificate, office location and
previous procedure)
contact detail of the company; (ii) the color in red for the
letters, and yellow for the background (these colors
applied to domestic companies); and (ii) the size shall not
exceed 2mx4m. For the building permit, the company
must complete the application form and attach the
signage layout indicating the location and size, and copy
of the company's licenses.
Carve a company seal

The application form for making the company seal is LAK

10,000. The cost for the certificate authorizing the design 45 days
in LAK 60,000. The carving of a seal in Lao language only
is LAK 50,000 (the carving of a seal in Lao and in another
language is LAK 53,000). The total time takes around 45

LAK 120,000 for

Lao language and
LAK 123,000 for
Lao and other
languages

No. Procedure

Time to Complete

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days.
Register the workers for social security

The application form to register workers for social

security insurance is available at the agency in charge of
registration. Employees and employers must participate
in the compulsory social security regime. They may not
enter into mutual agreements to avoid participation in
the social security regime. The social security regime for
company employees is established on the principle of
state-guaranteed insurance. Contributions to the social
security regime are paid by both the employers and
employees: 5.0% of gross salary is to be contributed for
social security by the employer and another 4.5%, by the
employee. The maximum ceiling for calculating these
contributions is LAK 2, 00,000 (5% and 4.5% of LAK
2,000,000).

Business License in Cameroon

No. Procedure

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A notary public drafts certificate requesting a commercial

bank to open a bank account for the new company

In practice, banks require that a notary public issues a

certificate that the company is in the process of creation
(attestation d'ouverture de compte de socit en cration)
1 day
before the entrepreneur can open a temporary bank
account called "account of company in the process of
creation". The registry provides the name-checking service
free of charge to notary publics or lawyers/attorneys who
have access to the courts information retrieval and
relational database.
Deposit the initial capital in a bank and obtain a receipt

1 day

no charge

no charge

No. Procedure

Time to
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Under Article 313 of the Uniform Act (the company law of

the Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in
Africa), founders are required to deposit the startup capital
in a bank or with a notary.
Have an attorney/notary or shareholders draft the
memorandum and article of association; sign company
bylaws before the notary

Article 10 of the Uniform Act of the Organisation pour

l'Harmonisation du Droit des Affaires en Afrique (OHADA)
states that the articles of association shall be established 2 days
by a notarial deed or by any other instrument that ensures
legal validity in Cameroon where the registered office will
be located. Such instrument, together with a certification
of the writing and signatures of all parties, should be
deposited as originals in a notarys office. They may be
amended only by the same procedure.

2% of the share capital up

to XAF 3,000,000 and 1.5%
for the capital from XAF
3,000,001 to 10,000,000 +
XAF 1000 per stamp (10
stamps)

Notary or entrepreneur files registration documents to the

one-stop-shop

Notary submits all company documents and forms at the

front desk of the Centre de Formalits d'Entreprises. The
staff will register the company with the Registre du
Commerce et du Crdit Mobilier, with the Tax
Administration and with the CNPS.
The following documents are required to file an application
with the court:
8 days
Articles of association (copy).
Location plan of business premises to get exoneration of
the Patente.
Criminal record of the directors of the company or sworn
declaration
Certificate of nonconviction (normally for nationals or
resident aliens who are shareholders).
Photocopy of marriage certificates (if any).
Declaration of regularity and conformity, drawn by the
notary public and signed by the incorporators, or a notarial

XAF 41,500 for Registration

No. Procedure

Time to
Associated Costs
Complete

statement of subscription and payment in lieu thereof.

Each page of the memorandum and articles of association
must also carry the current fiscal years fiscal stamp (XAF
1,000 a page).
Publish the incorporation of the company in the legal
journal (Cameroun Tribune)

The publication fee for announcing the company

3 days
incorporation in the legal journal is XAF 57,000. On May
27, 2011, the Government of Cameroon and the SOPECAM
signed a agreement that reduced the publication fees of
the Cameroon Tribune.

XAF 57000