Navigating the administrative requirements of setting up a business can be daunting. Before an entrepreneur takes the leap to realize their ideas and start a business, a company needs to be registered. Companies incorporate for various reasons including a vehicle for investors to invest, liability limitation, and requirement by the acquirer. Company registration in Singapore for foreigner is the first step in realizing their journey and entrepreneurship dreams. Given the fact that every foreign entrepreneur must go through the company registration process in Singapore, and company registration is the first step in realizing an entrepreneur’s dream in Singapore, the topic selected to write is to assist foreign entrepreneurs in navigating the company registration process in Singapore.
Benefits of Company Registration in Singapore for Foreigners
Young entrepreneurs educated overseas tend to face an unfamiliar world in the return home, and the invisible wall that erects between a citizen-turned entrepreneur and a foreign-visa holding talent can be psychologically daunting in a southeastern society that is not usually expressive and fulsome with spiritual freedoms. Singapore company registration is only symbolic, yet it is a major step in unlocking opportunities for ambitious overseas returnees or valiant defeated residents to found promising technology start-ups.
The vibrant ecosystem of innovation and technology is rapidly expanding on the tiny island-nation. It has become one of the most desired locations in Asia and worldwide for conducting business, also for aspiring foreign entrepreneurs, and for reasons that extend beyond pristine infrastructure and the rampant speed of connectivity. The country is also strategically located as the gateway for businesses embarking on an expansion into Asia, with easy access to regional markets including China, India, and Southeast Asia.
Access to Global Markets
Once a foreign company has achieved a good position in Singapore, the Straits Times Index, made up of the thirty most notable companies in Singapore, can be used. Singapore’s founding governments are generally willing to deal with businesses again that have in mind understanding tax rules and regulations, corporate laws and immigration. So, a foreign entrepreneur who can construct such a successful record and appeal to the public would definitely enjoy working with this country. As a regional hub, the city-state also provides legal security and a good investment climate. Singapore is also famous for its intellectual property laws in the state, with legal restrictions and a good and transparent business environment. The World Bank claims that Singapore is the most suitable place to start a business thanks to its strict business practices and level of productivity in the world. This is mostly thanks to the system of centralized grants, also known as the Register of Businesses.
Every entrepreneur’s objective is to develop and manage an international company, and Singapore is one of the leading international trade centers for various businesses. Currently, foreign firms have free access to the competencies of Singapore businesses, with numerous opportunities for internationalization. This greatly helps in solving a number of problems in the process of establishing a company. Singapore has entered into many treaties with other countries under the FTA programs, which largely open up opportunities to enter new regional (both Asian and non-Asian) markets seamlessly. With so many access points in a free trading agreement, entrepreneurs can look into various opportunities in every region, goods and services of origin, the impact of the global supply chain and the way to manage when their neighboring countries’ businesses finally go global.
Favorable Tax Environment
Singapore is an ideal frugal innovation test site with support from the government and various public research institutions, and the demand in the production and business fields of affordable innovation products also appears. After the product has been successfully tested in Singapore, it can be launched into larger markets in neighboring countries and worldwide. As a result, the low-volume demand for frugal innovation products has become a means for investment income in Singapore, enabling the standard to achieve a differential increase from the interest generated after the investment product is launched. Due to frugal innovation making use of the advantage of cheap social resources, thus creating an economic effect, it is considered to be of great significance in countries with limited resources. The purpose is to disclose the value evaluation method of the launched product after low-input frugal innovation, and explore the impact of the cheap frugal innovation means on the investment project income.
Singapore has been regarded as the most culturally diversified country in the world, where Western and Eastern dynamism blend harmoniously. With a GDP of $620 billion, Singapore has gradually grown into a financial services hub for Southeast Asia, and its unique characteristics as an international financial center and integrated trading center have also become more prominent. As an increasing number of overseas Chinese and foreigners have come to Singapore to start a business or find promising markets for their existing businesses, Singapore also provides enterprise registration services for overseas entrepreneurs. For their needs, when overseas Chinese and foreigners want to start a business or find a breakthrough in the development of their own company, Singapore has become their preferred choice. In addition, China and Singapore signed the China-Singapore Free Trade Agreement, which helps local Chinese companies enter the Singapore market. In the future, it will certainly bring a lot of benefits to corporate investors.
Strong Legal Framework
Let’s move from the law to the actual process of getting your business registered and ready in Singapore. As an entrepreneur, especially one in business (be it service provision or product retail), having to take some time off your busy schedule to travel and learn about the registration steps and procedures involved in a foreign country is no longer necessary. The process of registering and incorporating your company within the legal framework of any country can be learned and easily done online, from the convenience of your own home. With an online company registration provider, even the busy entrepreneur can easily understand the process and the documents needed for company registration. The Singapore company registration process for foreigners is easy and convenient, and it’s just as stress-free with Lamourex.
Talking about economic opportunities and risk mitigation strategies would not be complete without understanding the legal principles and rules guiding an economy, especially one with a high volume of cross-border trading activities. Singapore has a strong legal framework to protect the rights and interests of both international and local traders, thus making it an attractive place for business owners. The infrastructure provided by Singapore’s legal system is required to mediate multinational contractual estates. According to the Heritage Foundation’s Index of Economic Freedom by the Wall Street Journal, the country ranks the second-most open in the world when it comes to doing business, with scores as high as 89.4 on property rights and 89.6 on judicial effectiveness. Lamourex is an online platform that leverages on these legal frameworks to facilitate business registration for foreign entrepreneurs, giving them the utmost satisfaction.
Process of Company Registration in Singapore
Select the type of company that best fits your nature of business, shareholding characteristics and business priorities. For instance, a largest business corporation versus a small and medium business, a provision of a freight forwarding activities or a logistics management service versus a professional service and freelance skilled individual. It is recommended that a new business should start with a general or an exempt private company. The interested businessman may engage with the potential service providers or a service provider agent to have them assist to discuss, guide and to register the company on behalf in choosing the suitable company entity and business classification. The entity will vary the processing fees and time. The businessman may also opt to engage SGTech to seek the global business and SGTech’s new programme support in progressing to the next level or minimising the business risk and expenditure. The request for consultation and the support may be submitted through SGTech’s secretariat to determine justification and consideration for SGTech’s appointed solution.
Registering a company in Singapore, the friendly business territory, as a foreign entrepreneur is an overwhelming process. At the same time, it is an inevitable process to progress to the next stages. Beyond entrepreneurship, some professionals or skilled individuals require a corporate structure to operate to act as a freelance supplier or worker under their contract or a professional service provider to secure business contracts and work visa respectively. Thus, the article paves an understanding path about business entities, provisional measures, the regulatory constrained activities, criteria requirements and the simple yet thorough and swift company registration process.
Eligibility and Requirements
Singapore’s laws and regulations and the companies’ unique features can impact company registration and compliance. Foreign entrepreneurs planning to register a company in Singapore need to understand the specified company structure requirements and standard procedures. The information in this article intends to help foreign entrepreneurs avoid common pitfalls and expedite the company registration process. The registration process generally involves the following steps. You may start by choosing a unique name for the company. The company may have a single-tier or two-tier corporate structure. The company secretary and directors must meet the detailed criteria, as they will be entrusted with the administration and governance of the company. They must be at least 18 years old and have their principal place of residence in Singapore. The ideal number of directors is three. A company can be divided into shares owned by shareholders who may be Singapore citizens, Singapore PRs, or foreigners. A local registered address must also be provided when the company is registered in Singapore.
Foreign entrepreneurs should consider occupying the following positions in the company to be eligible for an Employment Pass (EP). If the company will be seeking venture capital funding or operating a business with high growth potential and technological innovation under the Global Investor Program (GIP) facilitated by Contact Singapore, the positions for Tech Pass and EP applicants are: CEO, CTO, CMO, or Senior Management, Director, or Advisor. Tech Pass and EP applicants are eligible to invest directly or indirectly in the business. Eligible international applicants holding an EP from another company and Tech Pass holders may also register a company in Singapore without needing an authorization code. They can participate in the residential entrepreneur scheme as long as they hold the EP and ultimately become the EntrePass holder for the company. The Tech Pass is not an EntrePass. However, the company the international Tech Pass holder has shares in must meet one of the following criteria: The company is more than 2 years old and raised a minimum of $10 million in venture capital by an HNWI accredited investor that is recognized by the financial regulatory authority in Singapore, or The company received financial support from the government, research institute, or affiliated institution before the company was established with government funds, or Intellectual property from the company generated at a publicly funded research institute or a government-funded research institute recognized by the ASTAR research institutes. The Tech Pass is also highly recurrent and can be quite productive if an existing Tech Pass holder is about to join your business.
Choosing the Right Business Structure
However, the registration goes with caveats – these are the characteristics of the sole proprietorship and the partnership. The business can run its business under the name of its business owner without registering a business name. Therefore, the business owner will be personally liable for all claims in the business. If you decide to register the business under its business name, you have to comply with the Business Registration Act. For example, notify the registrar within 30 days if the business owner changes its name and address. Finally, you or the general business owner must apply for the business before carrying on the professional business – i.e. the business of auditors, insurance agents, limited tax agents, real estate agents, property management agents, surveyors, conveyancers, travel agents, employment agents, private post-secondary educational institutes, and children’s hospitals.
- I am the sole owner, or we are a group of not more than 20 business partners co-owning the business and are responsible for our actions.
- I am the only decision-maker. I enter into contracts, receive payment, and deal with any agreement made between the business and its clients.
- I fully bear unlimited liabilities for the business’s debts or losses, or we as a group of partners bear jointly proportional liability for the business’s debt owed to the amount of our respective share of the business.
- d) Forming the business entity under the categories of partnership or sole proprietorship.
If you are considering starting a business in Singapore, you would have heard of the registration process. The choice of business entity is driven by the business model, the objectives of the business owner(s), the nature of the business, and the restrictions imposed on foreign ownership. This article is to explain the choices in short. You should be able to find the ideal vehicle for your business to roll it out in Singapore soon.
Registration Procedure
Company should have already decided on its proposed business name. The proposed business name should abide by the guidelines set by ACRA and should be thoroughly checked for its availability before submission to prevent future rejection or changes. Some of these guidelines to adhere to include prohibited words, offensive words, and name similarity. Firstly, name similarity means that your company name should not be identical or similar to any existing company name in Singapore. Secondly, the proposed name shall not infringe or violate the public interest: as an example, names that may result in confusion or misinterpretation to the public. In addition, a name search can be easily done on the ACRA website so that the availability of your business name you have in mind can be checked before your company registration. Refrain from using common words or phrases; it will make it hard for you to find the desired name. Also, an authorization letter should be prepared accurately to enable us, a registered filing agent, to act in accordance with company registration. This completed letter can be forwarded to you for collection to be brought to Singapore.
The procedure and payment for a business venture in Singapore, including company registration, is done online through the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) Registrar. Officially known as the e-filing fee, all payments to ACRA are charged in Singapore dollars (SGD). A foreigner who is physically residing outside of Singapore will require a Singapore citizen or PR to act as an authorized representative to manage this entire company registration process, including the payment. In this step-by-step guide, we will discuss in detail what the authorized representative has to do and the fees involved in starting a business in Singapore as a foreigner.
Support and Resources for Foreign Entrepreneurs
If you are coming in with kin and believe that based on their Singaporean status, the process of incorporating companies in Singapore would be easier, you are right! One of the advisors I spoke with at Rikvin, Fung Wa Lih, shared that in some cases, that is correct and Rikvin also lives by its charter to be as helpful as possible. Being a government body, Rikvin is also accountable to those who donate their time and resources to pass vital knowledge on to entrepreneurs. For foreign entrepreneurs who have a Singaporean relative or friend who is an entrepreneur, I was advised that they can include these expertise in their business network to gain leverage and support from both Rikvin and SPRING Singapore. This inclusion as a beneficiary from your Singaporean network may be more beneficial in the long term, according to Fung. As the SF Starter Pack is a short-term program, he reflected that the undertaking may not be worth the effort nor provide full value in the long run.
In addition to Rikvin, there are other government ventures and organizations that Singapore has set up to offer support and resources for entrepreneurs – both local and foreign. A noteworthy mention would be SPRING Singapore, a government body set up to encourage the growth of smaller enterprises in Singapore. It is crucial for foreign entrepreneurs to effectively leverage opportunities to receive such advice and support, especially if they are not coming in with any professional or entrepreneurial network in Singapore. Having such networks can provide real-world advice based on their experiences that can help foreign entrepreneurs navigate challenges. Whether you are in the planning or operating phases of business, joining such networks usually requires a basic sign-up form and could be very beneficial.
Government Assistance Programs
Spring offers several government financing schemes for small and medium-sized enterprises, including those of foreigners. These loans are at preferential interest rates, higher and longer loan tenure, and have no or reduced percentages of disbursement fees. The loans have an overall enhanced cost of credit vis-a-vis a commercial bank. However, to qualify for funding, an entrepreneur must propose an innovative project that meets the objectives of the particular financing scheme targeted. The co-working center program of Spring provides a grant of $1,000 from Spring for foreigners for 180 days for free use of an incubator workspace, franchise services such as co-working with experienced business mentors, and other networking events. Due to the limited availability and the laudable aspects of such workspaces, the entrepreneur is usually selected through an application and interview process from successful invocations.
Given the importance of small and medium-sized enterprises in Singapore, the Singapore government has initiated several programs to support company registration efforts and provide assistance to individuals who aspire to start their own company. These government-supported entrepreneurship programs are rolled out and administered by various government agencies that can be specialized according to the area and type of business. As a foreign entrepreneur, the range of government support available makes the process of setting up a company in Singapore less onerous.
Business Networks and Associations
Apart from expensive events, the value received may be nominal. We recommend checking out networking groups and events relevant to your profession through business networking websites. Joining interest groups, professional clubs, social networks, or business school association events could be more cost-effective. Here is an additional tip – you may also attend events where there is an industry leader seminar presentation or an institution that will likely sponsor the industry event. Taxpital Training. True enough, as a foreigner who lands in Singapore, you may feel like a drop in the sea. But take heart in the words of Cal Fussman, “the world is a big place, and we should never corner ourselves into thinking this is all there is. Look at something else 90 degrees from where you’re heading–you might find something breathtaking worth chasing”. So go ahead, chase your Singapore business dream with unlimited possibilities and enhance your Singapore business landscape.
Business Networks and Associations. Networking is crucial to gaining potential clients in a competitive business environment. Being from a foreign place, most of us do not have a vast professional network to approach for collaboration. Additionally, for college graduates in their fields with minimal or no work experience, it is essential to quickly meet and converse with industry professionals, start-up owners, business owners, entrepreneurs, workers, and key decision makers. As we all already know, blogs, forums, and social media are essential tools to build business relationships. Moreover, physical interaction through seminars, conferences, and industry-related workshops plays a significant role here in Singapore. The only potential limitation you may face as a foreign student is the participation fee, as most seminars and events tend to be quite expensive.
Professional Services Providers
Singapore is fast gaining a reputation as a preferred start-up destination for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The city-state offers simple but varied opportunities, especially for overseas entrepreneurs, and start-ups are created. The clear and transparent laws, skilled manpower, stringent principles of regulation, stringent principles of intellectual property, and a sound legal framework make it a dream destination for start-ups. Company registration in Singapore is also much faster and easier than in other countries in the area. Should start-ups wish to delegate those government matters to professionals, they can even be done for cheap.
Whilst relatively straightforward to self-register, many entrepreneurs prefer to concentrate on their core businesses and leave details such as the setting up of companies to professionals who offer such services. Such professional services may include the nomination of a local Director who is ordinarily resident in Singapore, provision of a Singapore Registered address, provision of Company Secretary services to ensure statutory compliance, and liaison with Accounting and Tax professionals for these regulatory activities. Such services may be either included in a bundled package or provided as separate offerings.