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Not sure how accurate this list is. Thailand, for instance, requires all businesses to have at least 51% Thai ownership, and I've heard Thai courts are fairly h

Not sure how accurate this list is. Thailand, for instance, requires all businesses to have at least 51% Thai ownership, and I've heard Thai courts are fairly heavily biased towards locals over foreigners. Foreigners can skirt around this a little bit by having 10+ Thai silent partners in different parts of the country that don't know each other who collect a dividend or payment each year without active involvement, but still a hassle and reflective of the lack of trust Thailand has for foreign investors and entrepreneurs. Also, I was surprised by some of the rankings. I'd have expected UAE and Israel to be higher than Germany and the Scandinavian countries for instance, but maybe I'm biased by experiences with small sample size. I've had German friends complain to no end about the Kafka-esque bureaucracy of the country, and generally I've had Israelis and expats in the Emirates tell me doing business is easy in those places.

hga 16y ago
Their methodology assume the company "Is 100% domestically owned" (http://www.doingbusiness.org/MethodologySurveys/StartingBusiness.aspx http://www.doingbusiness.org/MethodologySurveys/StartingBusi...).
- lionhearted 16y ago
  Ah, that changes things quite a lot. Good info, thanks for pointing that out. Unfortunately, this makes the list less pragmatically useful for choosing places to live abroad... I wonder if there's any reliable info like this for how well treated you are as a foreigner doing business in a country.
mjnaus 16y ago
You're wrong here. For certain businesses, foreign ownership can be the full 100%. When we opened our business here, we actually had the change to go this route, but choose not to because it would have been more hassle though. But I am also wondering how accurate this list is. And what qualifies as a "business"? Here in Thailand, many small businesses don't requite any form of legal entity and opening a small shop for example would be as easy as renting some space, putting in inventory and open your doors.... doens't get much easier then that. Imagine trying that in the US or UK... The ease of opening a small business here in Thailand beats any country that comes before Thailand on that list...
- lionhearted 16y ago
  > You're wrong here. For certain businesses, foreign ownership can be the full 100%. When we opened our business here, we actually had the change to go this route, but choose not to because it would have been more hassle though. Could you elaborate on how it went with your business? I'd like to learn more because I like some parts of Thailand, but I always heard differently. Here's the top google result, for instance: "A foreigner can form or buy a Thai company, and even be the sole director of it, but Thai citizens must jointly own at least 51% of its shares – meaning a majority is technically under Thai control. Currently it is possible to allocate shares to several unrelated people, who could have no combined effect on the company's business, and this can be arranged by the lawyer, but along with most things connected with business in Thailand, there are considerable risks involved." http://www.retire-asia.com/thaibiz.shtml http://www.retire-asia.com/thaibiz.shtml Actually, the whole article is generally very cautionary and negative against a foreigner owning a business in Thailand, which jives with what I've heard people who spend time there say. Maybe it's only businesses with real estate ownership or leases that come under these terms? EX, no real estate, then don't worry about it? I think regardless, you'd be fine working from your laptop. Anyways, I'm curious if you want to elaborate more. International business law is one of those things that every little bit you know becomes more helpful in understanding the broad picture of how markets work, imports/exports work, etc. It's something I try to pay attention to, research, and ask questions about when I'm visiting a place.
  - mjnaus 16y ago
    The way described in the article is indeed the way it has been until a few years back, but recent governments have made some attempts to become more open for foreign entrepreneurs; granted, it's still hard sometimes but I do have the feeling it's getting better. As far as our own company goes: we registered our first company a few years (2?) back and when we went into the process, we were also still under the impression that the foreign shareholders can only hold up to 49% of the shares. However, we quickly found out it was indeed possible for foreigners to fully own the company (according to the government official the regulations changed about a year before that). But we also quickly learned that this route would mean tons more paperwork and it would become more costly. We also needed to present our paperwork to the BOI, pay extra fees and hope they would accept the paperwork. And according to the government official, we would expose our company to tighter control from the government (which would probably mean more "tea money" as well). So, in the end we decided against full foreign ownership, although it was an option we considered. I realize many people are negative against owning a business here Thailand, perhaps due to bad experiences. I can only speak for myself (and a few relations who enjoy doing business here as well). Maybe I should mention I don't actually do business here, we pretty much only work with customers abroad. I love living and working here and wouldn't want it any other way for the time being!
eru 16y ago
Those table rankings do have some influence. Germany cleaned up its act partly because of them. E.g. you used to need 10.000 Euro in capital for a limited liability company (a German invention of the 19th century be the way), but they reduced that requirement to 1 Euro plus the need to re-invest a certain part of profits until you reach 10.000 Euro.
- noss 16y ago
  Sweden had a similar amount, but it was only lowered to about 5000€.

hga 16y ago

Their methodology assume the company "Is 100% domestically owned" (http://www.doingbusiness.org/MethodologySurveys/StartingBusiness.aspx http://www.doingbusiness.org/MethodologySurveys/StartingBusi...).

lionhearted 16y ago
Ah, that changes things quite a lot. Good info, thanks for pointing that out. Unfortunately, this makes the list less pragmatically useful for choosing places to live abroad... I wonder if there's any reliable info like this for how well treated you are as a foreigner doing business in a country.

mjnaus 16y ago

You're wrong here. For certain businesses, foreign ownership can be the full 100%. When we opened our business here, we actually had the change to go this route, but choose not to because it would have been more hassle though. But I am also wondering how accurate this list is. And what qualifies as a "business"? Here in Thailand, many small businesses don't requite any form of legal entity and opening a small shop for example would be as easy as renting some space, putting in inventory and open your doors.... doens't get much easier then that. Imagine trying that in the US or UK... The ease of opening a small business here in Thailand beats any country that comes before Thailand on that list...

lionhearted 16y ago
> You're wrong here. For certain businesses, foreign ownership can be the full 100%. When we opened our business here, we actually had the change to go this route, but choose not to because it would have been more hassle though. Could you elaborate on how it went with your business? I'd like to learn more because I like some parts of Thailand, but I always heard differently. Here's the top google result, for instance: "A foreigner can form or buy a Thai company, and even be the sole director of it, but Thai citizens must jointly own at least 51% of its shares – meaning a majority is technically under Thai control. Currently it is possible to allocate shares to several unrelated people, who could have no combined effect on the company's business, and this can be arranged by the lawyer, but along with most things connected with business in Thailand, there are considerable risks involved." http://www.retire-asia.com/thaibiz.shtml http://www.retire-asia.com/thaibiz.shtml Actually, the whole article is generally very cautionary and negative against a foreigner owning a business in Thailand, which jives with what I've heard people who spend time there say. Maybe it's only businesses with real estate ownership or leases that come under these terms? EX, no real estate, then don't worry about it? I think regardless, you'd be fine working from your laptop. Anyways, I'm curious if you want to elaborate more. International business law is one of those things that every little bit you know becomes more helpful in understanding the broad picture of how markets work, imports/exports work, etc. It's something I try to pay attention to, research, and ask questions about when I'm visiting a place.
- mjnaus 16y ago
  The way described in the article is indeed the way it has been until a few years back, but recent governments have made some attempts to become more open for foreign entrepreneurs; granted, it's still hard sometimes but I do have the feeling it's getting better. As far as our own company goes: we registered our first company a few years (2?) back and when we went into the process, we were also still under the impression that the foreign shareholders can only hold up to 49% of the shares. However, we quickly found out it was indeed possible for foreigners to fully own the company (according to the government official the regulations changed about a year before that). But we also quickly learned that this route would mean tons more paperwork and it would become more costly. We also needed to present our paperwork to the BOI, pay extra fees and hope they would accept the paperwork. And according to the government official, we would expose our company to tighter control from the government (which would probably mean more "tea money" as well). So, in the end we decided against full foreign ownership, although it was an option we considered. I realize many people are negative against owning a business here Thailand, perhaps due to bad experiences. I can only speak for myself (and a few relations who enjoy doing business here as well). Maybe I should mention I don't actually do business here, we pretty much only work with customers abroad. I love living and working here and wouldn't want it any other way for the time being!

eru 16y ago

Those table rankings do have some influence. Germany cleaned up its act partly because of them. E.g. you used to need 10.000 Euro in capital for a limited liability company (a German invention of the 19th century be the way), but they reduced that requirement to 1 Euro plus the need to re-invest a certain part of profits until you reach 10.000 Euro.

noss 16y ago
Sweden had a similar amount, but it was only lowered to about 5000€.