Starting a business in Timor-Leste: foreigner's guide (2026)

Foreigners may own up to 100% of the shares in a Timor-Leste company. Exceptions exist in restricted sectors such as petroleum and media/communications, where full foreign ownership is not permitted.

Registration is handled by SERVE, which acts as a one-stop shop for both domestic and foreign investors, streamlining business name reservation, incorporation and licensing.

SERVE states the company registration process typically takes 1 to 5 days and is free of charge.

Per SERVE, the minimum share capital for most limited-liability companies is US$1.00 with no maximum; a Joint Stock Company (S.A.) requires a minimum US$50,000, and a Foreign Branch / Permanent Representative (R.P.) requires US$5,000.

Choose a company type (e.g. Unipessoal Lda, Lda, S.A., or foreign branch), reserve a unique business name and obtain a Certificate of Uniqueness, prepare/notarize documents (passports, articles of incorporation), submit to SERVE for the registration certificate, then register for tax to obtain a Tax Identification Number (TIN) from the National Directorate of Domestic Revenue.

To access special benefits/incentives under the Private Investment Law (Law 15/2017), investors must apply to TradeInvest for a declaration of benefits or special investment agreement; minimum qualifying investment thresholds apply for foreign and non-resident investors (substantially higher than the basic incorporation capital).