Feasibility for Expat to open a restaurant in UB

I'm not a legal expert and I'm only going by what I was told (which seems to sometimes change depending on which official you talk to), so take this for what it's worth.

My limited understanding is that there are no special restrictions on foreigners renting/leasing or opening up restaurants, and quite a few of them have. Probably the biggest hurdle for foreigners opening a business is the initial investment requirement of $100,000USD for foreign-owned businesses. At first I thought this requirement was only if you wanted an investor residence visa as part of the business, but recently I was told it applied to majority foreign-owned businesses in general. I was also told if the foreign ownership stake is small enough (I was told the threshold was recently changed to somewhere under 20% I think) then this requirement doesn't apply. I know the foreign chefs/managers in at least three of my favorite restaurants have Mongolian wives, and while I have not asked them (it's not my place to) I would bet they probably have their spouse as majority owner to avoid that requirement. So assuming you don't have a Mongolian spouse, it looks like you will need to bring a minimum of 100,000USD to invest in your business. According to my brother-in-law, you may be able to move some of that money back out sometime after you provide proof of that stake for the registration/establishment of the business. But I recommend you double-check that, because I can't 100% confirm that.

On a related note, you will want a competent assistant or manager to help translate and help work with vendors, suppliers, and especially the government offices. The language barrier and the bureaucracy are some of the biggest hurdles I've faced, and having my Mongolian family to assist me has been a BIG time saver. Since you probably don't have a Mongolian business partner, you might want to work with one of the businesses here that help foreigners set up businesses and navigate the bureaucracy (google 'ICMC Mongolia' for one example... now I've never worked with them and can't vouch for them, but at minimum their site has some useful information).

Hope that helps!

- Nick

Thank you Nick. I'm doing the same in Egypt and as a dual citizen I can own a business like anyone else without any of those ridiculous regulations like invest min amount or own less than...

I'm looking for developing markets without much competition and a hunger for Western services/products/tech to invest in.

What looks good for Westerners to invest in when it comes to Mongolia?

I'm probably not the best person to ask as my work involves working at home on a computer rather than being out and about and talking with a lot of people. That being said, one of the opportunities or under-filled niches I see are making Western-style packaged and/or frozen foods locally. SO many foods are imported from Europe, US, and elsewhere that are relatively easy and simple to make locally. Over the years I've seen a number of new local food products that emerged aiming to fill these niches (pancake mix, flour tortillas, etc), but there's still quite a few food products I don't yet see produced locally (breakfast cereal, salad dressings, etc.). If the idea of that appeals to you, browse a lot of the larger supermarkets and compare them with what you remember seeing (and miss having) from the supermarkets back in the US. Now I will admit I have a few specific food products that I myself have a great interest in producing here, but am just too busy with other things to pursue right now. Those plans have to wait until I find the right local partner that I could trust to manage said business.

Along similar lines there are probably some niches for certain restaurant offerings, but I think it would have to be rather unique (or have big international name brand recognition) in order to be very successful. I can see opportunities, but there are so many restaurants here that I see a lot of potential competition as well.

I understand that some foreigners are big into real estate investing here and I see some potential there, but I have little personal experience in that area.

While mining is the big industry here, given the capital requirements and high profile nature of the business I imagine the opportunities for direct involvement are probably limited or unprofitable for most foreigners. But you may find some good niches in offering supporting services like technical/IT services, specialized food catering, etc.

Regardless what you may choose to do, one thing that's been drilled in to me over time is that if you come out here with a very successful idea, the local entrepreneurs are usually quick to try to copy said idea or business. So it's ideal to have a plan that can be implemented and grown quickly, as well as having follow-on improvements/innovations/products to carry out over time that make it more difficult for copycats to successfully emulate your business model and take market share from you. Also, the business environment has a fair amount of risk... there are a lot of great people and entrepreneurs here, but also quite a few greedy opportunists who take advantage of foreign and local investors/business-people alike. Pursuing successful legal action against and getting compensation from said people is often quite difficult here. Not a deal-breaker for doing business here, but just one of the things you have to account for.

Hope that helps at least a little