All foreign involvement in wholesale and retail trade must obtain the approval of the Committee on Wholesale and Retail Trade (CWRT) during the process to incorporate in Malaysia.
There is no restriction on maximum shareholding in fact foreigners can own up to 100% of a company. The process of which usually takes 1 – 6 months to complete. Normally, small businesses will not apply for Foreign Investment Committee (FIC) approval unless there is business with the government departments. If they own more than 30% of any company that participate in the following industry will be required to apply for Foreign Investment Committee (FIC) approval:
- Wholesalers,
- Retailers,
- Restaurant,
- Trading, import & export,
- Franchise practitioners,
- Consultancy business
- Direct sellers,
- Suppliers who channel their goods in the domestic market, and
- Commission agents or other representatives including those of international trading companies.
The following businesses are excluded from the definition of distributive trade:
- Manufacturing companies; and
- Companies granted the status of regional establishments by the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA).
Wholesale and Retail Trade (WRT) license is required by all companies that are in the wholesale, retail, trading, import/export and restaurant business which have foreign shareholding. The WRT license is required by all the said business sectors before they can apply for a professional work permit (DP10).
The Companies with foreign ownership that are engaged in distributive trade are required to obtain a wholesale and retail trade (WRT) license from the KEMENTERIAN PERDAGANGAN DALAM NEGERI DAN HAL EHWAL PENGGUNA (KPHDN) [Malaysian Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs (MDTCA)].
For WRT application, the minimum paid up capital requirement is RM 1 million. For further information, kindly visit KPHDN’s website at www.kpdnkk.gov.my
For foreigners, before you start to register and company in Malaysia, it is advisable to have a complete understanding to the type of licenses required for your intended business and type of visa’s requirement.
Check with us which kind of licenses required for your professional work permit (DP10) application, simply fill up the form below for us to contact you. We make “your work permit application easy” in Malaysia.