Are foreigners allowed to establish a business in the Philippines

9ballmark wrote:

Hi Nick
what type of business are you interested in? Is it just internet cafes or are you interested in Billiard/Disco/Karaoke/Resto bar?
I have 25 years of experience in this industry although wet behind the ears as far as the Philippines is concerned. I have a friend that has been here 4 years and started a bar but in a very bad area, it was more of a hobbie for him than a money making plan.

Where are you from originally?

regards

Mark

Sounds like a reasonable idea to set up a a bar, but you have to remember most foreigners won't support you as most are tucked up in their bed by 8pm. The very few who might support you are probably the type you don't really want hanging around. Unless you are prepared to fork out a large amount of dosh to set up a decent bar and import western food etc, stick to the local trade, cater solely for the Filipino. Many Karaoke bars are struggling these days..The hours are long. Noticeably higher rents see many bars come and go all within 12 months. Maybe a karaoke bar or the likes, in the provinces, might increase the chance of survival, i'm not sure. A couple of friends are contemplating closing their bar for the above reasons. They have been in business for many years and have decided to move on, simply because of a substantial increase in their rent. Currently business confidence here in the Philippines is excellent, but choosing the right business can be the key to success.
My advice is if you are thinking of moving to the Philippines without having access to a steady income, as in having a 'pension or substantial savings' or both, life may be pretty miserable for you.

tony694 wrote:

Hi professor cebu,
Thanks for the reply.
I want to open a bar with a small gaming area (about 20 slot machines) in Puerto Princessa. I want to start a genuine business and in the future help the community. I need advice. I like the Philippines. I'm not planning to just making money there, but to live as well. Would you have any ideas on that matter? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you

Government agencies you have to deal with:
1. for gambling machines-PAGCOR and City Hall
2. Business permits-City hall
3. building permit-OBO
4. tax registration-BIR
5. for more info on labor - DOLE
6. business registration: sole/partnership-DTI; corporation-SEC

Hope this helps. for your additional info, there is one particular philippine law that grants income tax holiday incentives which is also processed together with application for business registration

Calif-Native wrote:

You really need to consider your location and the ISP (internet service provider) here.  So many places will not have the best speeds and the main ISP (PLDT) will alter and change your router settings every 24 hours unless you make then aware of the fact you are indeed watching them.  Also you will need to learn or refresh your understanding of internet vs, intranet speed settings. 

The default speed testing here is from your home to the city of Makati or Imus.  This means you will get false high speed results (UP & Down) with a Ping of less than 7MS.   Since a 200 MS Ping or higher is considered a poor performing circuit, they will quickly tell you it is a problem in the USA. 

When I set my speed test to check a server between the Philippines and Los Angeles, I get a Ping of 175+ MS instead of the 5-7MS test results when the test is only in this country.  The expat needs to understand this if an internet related business capability is your goal.  I required a decent speed to support my post-grad studies back to my California University and my other IT activities here.

After a year plus set of letters to them (PLDT), they turned my speed up (remotely thru the router) to match true "internet" service and now with fiber service,  I'm close to the 50Mbps I pay for.

Lastly, consider a more robust router from the US and bring it with you.  I connect my AirPort Extreme and 2TB Time Capsule to my PLDT router and have zero issues on the Apple side (iMac, MB Pro and iPhones).  I do understand Apple has discontinued these devices but I'm happy with years of trouble free performance with them. Im not into PCs much so I can't recommend hardware there.  Nonetheless, if you run many devices thru the PLDT router you will be in a constant reset mode.  I posted over a year ago in detail on this issue....  best of luck!

Do you have a link to your more detailed post?

tintin122576 wrote:

Hi, I just want to ask your opinion about getting into a multi level marketing business. I
Tintin

Very easy question to answer.

If you're on or near the top of the tree, you'll make a fortune. The downside is you have to have no conscience about ripping people off and you'll go to hell

If you're at the bottom or quite low, you'll get scammed in an epic way.

If a friend has introduced you to this, delete their number and ghost them - They're no friend if they're trying to scam you.

tintin122576 wrote:

Now I want your honest opinion, because I have this feeling that this business will boom in no time. But do you think it is good to be a member of this business? The minimum entry fee is Php 5,000 only the maximum is 100K with money back guaranteed and I would be able to sell the products or the business itself.

By the way, my friend is one of the founder so she promise me to teach how to do the business that's why it entice me.



Thank you so much in advance
Tintin

Most such businesses boom the first 6 months-year for the people in on the ground floor.  Multi level means the new suckers pay the old ones.  A few will make some money, everyone else will lose.  Often people can only make money if they recruit others, but the new recruits must also recruit other ad infinitum.  Don't expect  to keep any friends you introduce to this business.

josekite wrote:

cuales son esos requisitos?

English please.

mugtech wrote:

josekite wrote:

cuales son esos requisitos?

English please.

It's Filipino ((or perhaps Spanish)). I can a bit of both but not enough to judge which of them it is     Filipino has got many words from Spanish.

It mean - What are the requirements?

Well.  It depend much of what you aim at doing and if corporation or what business form.
There are more restrictions and forbids against foreigners, but there are some for Filipinos too. Some unexpected ones too     as e g demand to fast geting special printed both invoices and reciepts even if never will be a situation to use!   
Some of these restrictions are about max owning for foreigners from 100 % to nothing depending of what the business will do.  Max 40 % is the common, but 100 % for "export business" where the main of the income come from abroad.

cogon88 wrote:

Jesus gave a guarantee he was coming back to LOL

Well if Jesus comes back will MSNBC, CNN or Fox news ask him if he was here before? Also will social media allow his named to be mentioned?

mugtech wrote:

Supposedly an all English forum, language-wise. .

For clarity and ease of use, English should be used on this section of the forum.
Posts in other languages may be removed

Spanish, if anyone is interested, is here

https://www.expat.com/forum/viewforum.php?id=2198