Starting business in Philippines as a foreigner

Absentee business ownership will not work here. Must be hands on.

The assumption here is that you would enjoy  living in the Philippines and you have already checked out if your business model would work here successfully?   If so, I hope you will see some good recommendations for a corporate business lawyer.
       By the way, what is 'live printing' ?

Hi all,

I will be living in Manila and running the business myself.

My business idea is events related. We have run the business in Singapore successfully and looking to replicate it in Manila. However, we are concerned with the ownership restriction. Is there any way to mitigate those risks?

'More than 40% and up to 100% foreign ownership of a Domestic Market Enterprise may be allowed as long as the paid-in capital is a minimum of USD 200,000.00'

I assume you have read:
   'Foreign Ownership of Corporations in the Philippines' where this above statement forms part of the text.

If your invested capital is less than $200,000, you might minimize the risks with the other 60% Filipino ownership by having their own cash invested, thereby creating obvious incentives for success.   Furthermore, you might see if it is  possible in the Philippines to structure your corporation with 2 classes of shares.  (eg. voting and nonvoting)

I suggest you speak to a qualified attorney who is experienced in setting up companies for foreigners.
My friends used one here in Cagayan de oro ,who has a few foreign clients and can advise you on protecting your investment.

I think there is an opportunity for someone to set up  a few comprehensive websites here in the Philippines.  First, it would be so helpful if there was a useable up to date real estate  Multi  Listing Service, similar to  what exists in the USA and Canada.  Another idea, it would also be helpful to see an on-line catalog of legal services in the Philippines which included Names, Firm Specialization, Location and Fee structures to name a few.  To be able to add feedback as well would be extremely helpful for others.  Many responses on Expat  suggest a 'good' lawyer, but where ?

Hi CherHow,

How is it now? Have you already started your business in Philippines as a foreigner? I have a very similar case like yours and i want to know the steps you already took.

Hi Cherhow,
Do you still need help in setting up your company in PH?

I wonder about start a business in Philippines. Im from Europe. I have a company registrer in HongKong already, but I want to open a store in Philippines in with that company name. Is it same documents needed as if I started a new business/company in Philippines? I still need a Philippine person registrate 60% of the store in Phil? (not company - because the company is a HongKong registrate company)

Hi Can you introduce your friend to me. I am planing to do retail business in the Philippines. Thank you!

Joyce-Accountant wrote:

Hi Cherhow,
Do you still need help in setting up your company in PH?

Hi I need help

If you are selling to Filipinos you are in for a tough road imo. The amount of disposable income the average Filipino has is soooo small.
I sometimes go to Fiesta's and think there may be some opportunity there, and then I see the "Disco" in the gym which costs 30 pesos to go in and there are maybe 30-40 inside, but there is 100 teenagers outside who can't afford to go in.
You have to sell to the SK/Capitan/whomever. Individually selling to average people is tough.

IMO the better route would be to hire Filipinos to do some work for you and then market your product/information to a different marketplace (USA/Canada/England/etc)

The main advantage of doing business in the Philippines, that I can see, is that the cost of labor is so cheap and there is a huge labor pool of able bodied 16-25 year olds.

It just blows my mind how often I talk to people here who want to start up a little business and then I ask them what type of business and they say, "Sari-Sari store" or something to that affect.

I then try to talk about supply and demand.

Hi there. I am from NZ and interested in starting motorbike rental business in Puerto Princessa with a Philipino friend of mine in partnership.

How do you suggest I do?
Cheers

Nothing wrong if trusted friend... Have everything legal and get involved... Don't depend

What is the process of starting a manufacturing factory and exporting from the Philippines, does anyone have any experience with this?

It really depend of the time of product you want to Manufacture here in the Philippine,

It depend on your source to raw materials and ease of transport.

The labour is generally cheap here in the Philippine but one aspect that gives more concern is the export duty is tremedously high which can eat your profits.

I will suggest you look for other industries you can invest like Real Estate.


Thanks.

Why is the export duty so high?

How can we get this lowered?

Thanks for the reply. Would you know how to start a company with Philipino being a majority partner and have bank account created and linked to that company please? I tried browsing through online articles but none are clear or most videos are in local language. I am a foreigner who doesn't understand their language and would appreciate if there were any materials in english for reference. Cheers