STARTING BUSINESS

Starting a business in Timor-Leste is straightforward. According to the World Bank Ease of Doing Business Report (2019) Timor-Leste is one of the easiest countries in South East Asia to setup a business. The different types of legal entities are as follows:

Type of Legal Entity Official Title Min.Capital Requirement
Sole Trader Sole Trader Undefined minimum
Limited Liability Company (Single Shareholder) Sociedade Unipessoal (Unipessoal Lda) Single shareholder
Min share value $1
Limited Liability Company Sociedade por Quotos Limitada (Lda) Shareholders 2 to 30
Min share value $1
Joint Stock Company Sociedade Anonima (S.A) Shareholder min 3 Min share capital $50,000
Branch/Subsidiary Representacao Permanente (R.P) Min share capital $5,000 to defined amount

Business registration is the responsibility of government agency SERVE.

If all the paperwork is provided business registrations typically take up to 5 working days and a company can be established with capital of as little as $1.
Serve Business Registration

Following successful registration the followings documents will be issued by SERVE:
1. Registration Certificate (Certificado de Registo Comercial, CRC)
2. Certificate of Business Registration (CBR)
3. Authorisation to Conduct the Activity (ACA)- lower risk activities
4. Business Licence (BL) – higher risk activities

For more details on starting a business in Timor-Leste download TradeInvest’s factsheets:
 Factsheet Starting a Business