Every year over USD 1 trillion is distributed worldwide in the form of foreign direct investment. Investments by foreign investors and entrepreneurs are of significant value to the country and are seen as a sign of a healthy economic, political and legal environment. When it comes to investing your money, some countries are simply better than others. It depends on numerous factors such as the country's overall economy and growth prospects, political stability, taxation and the overall legal system, the complexity of starting a business, opening an account and the workforce.

In this article, we summarize three jurisdictions in terms of benefits and other features crucial to foreign investors. These countries have already proven their ability to attract multinationals and other investments, but when it comes to choosing the right place to invest, each country is different and might be better than others in one or more factors.

Singapore

The first country to be analyzed is Singapore, which ranks 2nd among the best countries for investment and 15th among the best countries in the world in the US News Best Countries Ranking developed in cooperation with its international partners

Located in Southeast Asia, Singapore is a bustling metropolis and home to one of the busiest ports in the world. As one of Asia's four economic tigers, the country has experienced impressive growth in recent years thanks to efficient production and manufacturing processes and innovations in the pharmaceutical and electronics industries. High GDP per capita and low unemployment make Singapore one of the wealthiest countries in the world.


Hong Kong

Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China. While Hong Kong is often considered as a separate entity from China, it is not a country and therefore enters all lists and rankings under the name of China. China takes 26th place among best countries to invest in and 20th place among best countries in general.

Hong Kong’s legal system is characterised by the strict adherence to principles and the rule of law. It operates a free trade economic system and promotes minimal government interference in most sections of the economy. This reflects on the small number of tariffs and duties on traded goods and therefore it is a better place for investments than other parts of China.

Foreign investments are attracted by promoting a favourable investment climate with low taxes, few restrictions and additional incentives to encourage investments. Corporate profits tax rate is 16.5% with a possibility to waive 75% of the tax. There is no tax levied on dividends.

Company incorporation is a simple and fast-forward process. All applications for company incorporation also include an application for the business registry. The application can be submitted online and the processing generally takes one hour (as opposed to four days if the application is submitted in hard copy).


Due to its impressive growth and increasing immigration, Singapore attracts the best professionals to its workforce. The country offers cultural diversity and, with four official languages, is an important gateway for international trade.

The corporate tax rate is 17%, but it can be reduced by taking advantage of numerous government subsidies, incentives, and other programs.

Singapore's legal system is known for its integrity, efficiency and fairness, making the country better than many as a place to start and operate a business. The World Bank Group has recognized Singapore's political and regulatory environment as the most business-friendly in the world.

Other factors:

Least Corrupt Country in Asia;

Best IP protection in Asia;

Most popular country for arbitration in Asia.


United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates or UAE is listed as the 22nd best country in the world and is not mentioned among the best countries for investment according to the above ranking.

Before the discovery of oil in the mid-20th century, the UAE's economy was mainly based on fishing and the pearling industry. The country experienced rapid growth and general transformation along with the start of oil exports in the 1960s. Today the country's GDP can be compared to that of leading European countries and the World Economic Forum has named the UAE the most competitive place in the Arab world.

When incorporating a company in the United Arab Emirates, foreign investors can choose between offshore or onshore registration, whichever is more suitable for the type of company and the activities planned. Onshore registration means that the investor establishes a business presence on the UAE mainland. Offshore registration usually refers to a business presence in one of the UAE's free trade zones.

The UAE does not levy corporate income tax at the federal level. However, most Emirates have some corporate income taxation and can even reach 55% for certain industries. In practice, corporate income tax is mainly levied on gas and oil companies and branches of foreign banks.

Other factors:

The UAE is among the most liberal places in the Gulf with a legal system that allows freedom of religion;

No sales tax or VAT but with plans to introduce it in the future;

In addition to traditional banking, Islamic (or Sharia-compliant) banking has seen tremendous growth in recent times.

Ireland's Logistics Performance Index is 3.87. This indicates good performance – the logistic system is well prepared and organized, shipments mostly arrive on time and undamaged, and the infrastructure is ready to handle even unpredictably large volumes of traffic as long as they are not overwhelming.

Customs performance is rated at 3.8. This indicates good performance – customs clearance is fast and effective, in some cases it may be absent at all (e.g. at Schengen borders), which encourages international business activity; The required documents and fees are predictable and publicly available and in some cases (mainly visas) can be arranged at the customs office.

Infrastructure quality in Ireland is rated at 3.84. This indicates good quality - roads, railways, ports and other facilities are adapted and regularly maintained to handle heavy traffic at all times. Most likely there are also special facilities for handling heavy traffic and/or special traffic or vehicles (e.g. motorways, also called motorways and deep sea ports).

International shipping quality is 3.44. It indicates satisfactory performance - the services are reasonable and the prices are not too high and are usually right up there with the quality, although there is still room for improvement.

The competence of the logistics service provider is rated at 3.94. The providers are very competent, ensure the high quality of the shipments and traffic handling at all times and work quickly and reliably; Any errors that may occur are of course compensated.

The tracking options for shipments are rated 4.13. This indicates good performance - the tracking systems provide detailed and up-to-date information on most parameters of shipments, often overcome national barriers (both political and linguistic) and can be qualified as international tracking systems.

The tracking options for shipments are rated 4.13. This indicates good performance - shipments almost always arrive within the scheduled timeframe and often faster than expected.

In Ireland, 100% of the population has access to electricity. Ireland has 40 airports nationwide. There are 1,387,000 internet hosts in Ireland. The number of road motor vehicles per 1000 inhabitants in Ireland is 682.

Road network
The total road length in Ireland is 96,602 km (60,039 miles). Of these, 1,224 km (761 miles) of roads are classified as freeways, dual carriageways, or dual carriageways.

Gas price
On average you would pay $1.92 for a liter of petrol in Ireland. A liter of diesel would cost $1.29.

In general, a beneficiary is an individual who derives a profit or other benefit from something. In the financial world, a beneficiary refers to someone qualified to receive distributions from a will, life insurance policy, or trust. In business, it refers to a beneficial owner who ultimately owns and controls a business and/or other natural person on whose behalf a particular transaction is being conducted. Beneficiary is a person who exercises ultimate effective control over a legal entity or arrangement. The notions of ultimate ownership or control and ultimate effective control are useful in situations where ownership of the entity is exercised through a chain of ownership and does not clearly identify the direct and actual owner of the entity.

Importance of identifying a ultimate beneficial owner of the account
Beneficial ownership is currently the main concern for anti-money laundering (AML) compliance professionals in banks. And there's a good reason for that. By developing comprehensive know-your-client (KYC) and other due diligence procedures before opening a bank account and throughout working with clients, banks have succeeded in fighting terrorism, tax fraud and other crimes. Large-scale fraud is often related to the inappropriate use of commercial structures. For example:

60% of abusive companies are involved in white-collar and financial crime;
75% of known criminal organizations use companies to cover up their activities.
While banks risk losing their customers and profits after stepping up their KYC and other due diligence procedures again, this is usually done to meet increasing AML requirements from national governments and international institutions. Global AML standards dictate that understanding the ultimate beneficiaries of bank accounts is an essential part of any financial institution's AML program and can be achieved through extensive know-your-client and other due diligence processes.

Who exactly is considered the ultimate beneficiary of the bank account?
The Fourth Money Laundering Directive of the EU (MLD4) is essentially aimed at the final beneficiaries. Under this policy, ultimate beneficial ownership is presumed in one of three cases:

A natural person holds 25% or more of the capital of the legal person;
A natural person can exercise 25% or more of the voting rights during general meetings;
A natural person is a beneficiary of 25% or more of the capital of the company.
It is sometimes difficult to determine the ultimate beneficiaries of a company. The above policy also requires that officers be treated as beneficial owners if the above criteria are not met.

Ultimate beneficial owner and the nominees
If a beneficial owner wishes to keep their name out of public records, the company can use a nominee shareholder service. The nominee shareholder is generally an independent third party with which the legal entity's shares are formally registered and held on behalf of a beneficial owner. The ultimate beneficiary of the company can enjoy actual ownership of the company while public ownership is held on behalf of the nominee shareholder. Generally, the true identity of the ultimate beneficiary is known only to the law firm or company incorporation service and the beneficiary himself.

The final beneficiaries usually do not want to lose control of their company, but they also do not want to be perceived publicly as the owner of the company. Therefore, it is crucial to create adequate documentation that proves the rights of true ownership. These documents include a Declaration of Trust and a Nominee Services Agreement and will be kept strictly confidential.

The limited liability company in Germany, also known as a limited liability company or simply GmbH, is one of the most common corporate structures in Germany. It is an extremely flexible structure as it combines numerous legal advantages while having very few limitations. In Germany, the GmbH is subject to corporation tax (KSt), the solidarity surcharge and trade tax.

GmbH can be founded with at least one shareholder, provided that it has a share capital of at least EUR 25,000. The share capital can be deposited in cash, contribution in kind or contribution. As an exception, the shares in the GmbH may neither be sold publicly nor entered on the public stock exchange. The company is managed by the shareholders' meeting. The day-to-day decisions and business are taken care of by the company's board of directors, appointed by resolution of the shareholders' meeting.

GmbH formation procedure in Germany
All legal requirements and regulations for the formation of the GmbH are determined by the company law.

Before starting the incorporation process, it is highly recommended to apply for an availability check to check the availability of the company name with the local Chamber of Commerce and Industry department, notarize the company incorporation documents and open a bank account. In this preliminary stage, share capital must be paid into the bank account.

In order to initiate the incorporation process, the following company documents must generally be submitted to the local commercial register authority:

Application for company formation;
notarized articles of incorporation;
A document stating the Board of Directors and its structure;
A document proving that the share capital has been deposited.
All documents listed above must be submitted in digital form in accordance with German standards for digital filing and verification. The formation of a newly founded company takes place on the basis of a central electronic platform that is developed and operated by the commercial register of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Trade license and sales tax acquisition
The next logical step before starting business is to apply for a business license from the local Office for Economy and Standardization, followed by registration with the National Statistics Office (with all the necessary operational, industry and financial information). Data). After that, newly founded GmbHs should also submit and register with the local IHK and the local department of the employment office.

The employment office should hear the case and assign a company an eight-digit number that must be reported to the social welfare office. After all the previous steps have been carried out and completed, the GmbH must submit an application to the federal health insurance fund. In addition, legal notices should be sent to the Central Tax Administration informing about the newly formed company, with all the above points leading to registration for the German corporate tax and sales tax payer number.

After completion of the company formation procedure, the company can finally start its business operations. Because the majority of companies registered in Germany need local employees. Employers are largely offered a well-trained workforce. It is also possible to look for employees at the numerous local recruitment agencies.