Starting A Business

Companies doing business in Malaysia are required to apply for business premises licenses and signboard licenses from the respective State Authorities. The requirements for the application of a business premise license and a signboard license may vary according to each local authority.

Generally, an application for a business license and signboard license must be accompanied by a number of supporting documents as follows:-

Requirement for Business License Application

1. A copy of Business Registration Certificate / Incorporation Certificate (Form 9)
2. A copy of Form 49 (Companies Act, 1965)
3. A copy of Form 24-A, B (Business Registration Act, 1956)
4. A copy of grants / title / hire-purchase agreement of the proposed premise
5. A copy of Building Occupational Certificate / Sijil Menduduki Bangunan
6. A copy of location map / pelan lokasi
7. Application of Floor Plan / Pelan Lantai
8. Application of Signboard or Advertisement Board License / Lesen Iklan
9. Advertisement visual (must fulfil requirement of usage of advertisement language) 
10. Passport-sized photograph of applicant
11. A copy of applicant's NRIC
12. Fulfil Health Conditions (Foundation courses for food handlers and typhoid vaccination)

Requirement for Signboard License Application

1. Photocopy of the applicant's identity card
2. Passport-sized photograph of the applicant
3. Copy of the company's M&A and Forms 9, 24 and 49
4. Copy of either the rental agreement or the sale and purchase agreement of the company's business premise
5. Copy of the Certificate of Fitness of the company's business premise
6. Copy of the Fire Department's support letter
7. Copy of the location plan of the company's business premise
8. Photographs of the business premise
9. Photographs showing the location of the company's signboard
10. Samples of the signboard indicating its design and colours

For further information, kindly visit Local / State Authority's website

Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur
http://www.dbkl.gov.my 
 
 
 

Majlis Perbandaran Subang Jaya
http://www.mpsj.gov.my 
 
 
 

Majlis Bandaraya Shah Alam
http://www.mbsa.gov.my 
 
 
 

Majlis Perbandaran Klang
http://mpklang.gov.my 
 
 
 

RESTAURANT / F&B BUSINESS

 Most entrepreneurs would like to start a restaurant or food & beverages (F&B) business in Malaysia being their first choice. It looks very rewarding because of people are just simply love eating and eating.

For those who are ready to start a business in this F&B industry, it is necessary to comply with certain laws and regulation is Malaysia such as Business Licenses, Signboard Licenses, HALAL Licenses, and most important, it is a MUST to fulfil health conditions require by State Authorities.

HALAL Certification

Halal Certification Logo is a recognition that shows something halal food products, beverages and consumables Muslims based on Islmic law practiced in the state. This aims to alleviate the confusion and doubt arose among Muslim consumers related to halal or purity of the food, beverages and consumables produced in the state.

It must meet the requirements specified in the Guidelines make provision of premises / processing / cooking food, drinks and consumables Muslims issued by the Selangor Islamic Religious Department.

All operators of food, consumables and related parties to meet kosher criteria set forth in the "Guidelines" may be eligible to apply for the Halal Certificate and Halal logo.

Application Guidelines

All applications must be made by completing the prescribed application form available at the following address:

Bahagian Penyelidikan dan Pembangunan
Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor
Tingkat 5, Menara Utara
Bangunan Sultan Idris Shah
40000 Shah Alam
Selangor Darul Ehsan

Application forms are categorized into three as shown below:

1. Application Form Halal Certification and Halal Logo For Food Products and Muslims Applied Materials (SPH 1)
2. Application Form Halal Certification and Halal Logo For Food Premises (SPH 2)
3. Application Form Halal Certification and Halal Logo For Sale Halal Meat Animals (SPH 3)

SPH form 1 / SPH 2 / SPH 3  forms to be forwarded to the above mentioned address. All information provided by the applicant in the fors.m and related attachments are private and confidential. The applicant shall provide a file entitled Halal Certificated and Halal Logo Halal Certification and entitled Halal logo to store related document.

Inspection

Before the Halal Certificate and Halal logo issued, and inspection visit to the premises of the goods will be conducted by two members of the Review Committee or a representative of Food, Beverage and Applied Materials Selangor Muslims.

Payments for expenses laboratory analysis of the samples of goods required for verification purposes if AADA lawful, shall be borne by the applicant. Amount and method of payment for the purpose of analysis will be determined by the laboratory.

Approval

Halal Certificate and Halal Logo will be issued after food items, food premises and food storage are examined and found to meet all the regulations of Halal requirement according to Islamic Law.

Fees are divided into few categories as follows:-

Any further inquiry, please contact

Bahagian Penyelidikan dan Pembangunan
Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor
Tingkat 5, Menara Utara
40676 Shah Alam
Selangor Darul Ehsan
 
Tel: 03-5514 3400 ext 2091 / 2093 / 3679 / 3683

Or visit Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor's website at 

 http://www.jais.gov.my

CHILD CARE CENTRE

Every child has the right to be loved, cared ant to receive appropriate care and support in accordance to his / her development needs from their parents. However, the traditional caring practices are now altered when parents are faced with economic-setbacks which significantly influence their arrangement for the care of their children which drive both parents may have to work in order to make living in this rapdily high living cost era.

This growing situation leads to the establishment of many child care centre that the quality of child care centre involves concern of the entire society, families, employers, child care providers as well as the Government.

The Government has establish many laws and policies as major guidelines to be taken care of towards building a protective environment for the children in Malaysia as follows:-

1. Child Care Centre Act, 1984
2. Child Care Centre (Institution-Based) Regulations, 1985
3. Care Centre Act, 1993
4. Child Act, 2001
5. Child Protection Policy, 2009

Application Guidelines

Child Care Centre Act, 1984 defines any premise where four (4) or more children below four (4) yeras old or older in one house or same building accepted to be taken care of with certain amount of fee or charge.

Every applicant must forward their application directly to the State Authority (if less than 10 children) and to the Department of Social Welfare (if more than 10 children).

Every application through the Department of Social Welfare will then referred to the State Authority which then will get consultation from Health Department, Traffic and Buildings Unit. Estimated procedure time is around 2 weeks.

When all consultations acknowledged, the application will be debated in the Meeting of Building Plans and Town Planning Committee.

The application flows are as follows:-

Important matters to be put under consideration during application

1. Appropriate building
2. Location of the premise / building
3. Safety of the premise / building
4. Air and light ventilation
5. Space of the premise / building
6. usage of space in the premise / building
7. Bathrooms and refreshment area
8. Plan approval
9. Alteration of the premise / building plan
10. Other departments' law and regulation
11. Emergency and safety facility
12. Signboard

Applicant may purchase the Guidelines for Setting-up a Child Care Centre (Garis Panduan Prosedur Memproses Permohonan Penubuhan TASKA) from the District Department of Social Welfare ("DSW") for a fee of RM10.00. Applicant will find the guidelines, key forms and basic requirements and procedures set by the DSW, the Local Authority, Fire & Safety Department and Health Department.

For further information, kindly visit related body and Local / State Authority's website

Jabatan Kebajikan Masyarakat
Department of Social Welfare
http://www.jkm.gov.my
http://jkmselangor.gov.my

Jabatan Bomba dan Penyelamat
http://www.bomba.gov.my 
 
 
 

Polis Diraja Malaysia
http://www.rmp.gov.my 
 
 
 

Jabatan Kesihatan Malaysia
http://www.moh.gov.my 
 
 
 

Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur
http://www.dbkl.gov.my 
 
 
 

Majlis Perbandaran Subang Jaya
http://www.mpsj.gov.my 
 
 
 

Majlis Bandaraya Shah Alam
http://www.mbsa.gov.my 
 
 
 

Majlis Perbandaran Klang
http://mpklang.gov.my 
 
 
 

SSM-UNICEF Tool Kit
Hot to Set-up a Child Care Centre
http://www.unicef.org/malaysia/SSM-UNICEF-BBPC1-Childcare-Centres-FINAL.pdf
 

OTHER SPECIAL LICENSE FOR BUSINESSES

In addition companies doing the following businesses are also required to obtain special licenses:

• Manufacturing
• Banking
• Building and Construction
• Oil and Gas Industry
• Wholesale and Retail Trade

 

Manufacturing companies which employ at least 75 full-time employees are required to apply for manufacturing license from MIDA. For further details please visit MIDA's website at

   http://www.mida.gov.my 

 

Under the Banking and Financial Institutions Act, 1989, the Malaysian Central Bank linceses and regulates businesses such as banking, money broking, discount houses, provision of credit and finance, merchant banking, deposit taking and certain other financial businesses. For further details, please visit Bank Negara's website at

      http://www.bnm.gov.my

 

All Companies in this field must obtain a license from the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) prior to incorporating in Malaysia and before undertaking any construction and related activities in the country. For further details, please visit CIDB's website at

Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB)
http://www.cidb.gov.my

 

 

 

When incorporating in Malaysia, companies which wish to explore and velop upstream oil and gas reserves in Malaysia are required to sign a production sharing agreement with Malaysian state Oil Company Petronas. For further details, please visit Petronas website at

       www.petronas.com.my

 

When incorporating in Malaysia, note that all proposals for foreign involvement in wholesale and retail trade must obtain the approval of the Committtee on Wholesale and Retail Trade (CWRT). There is no restriction on maximum shareholding i.e. foreigners can own 100% of a company. If they own more than 30% of any company, they will be required to apply for Foreign Investment Committee approval, the process of which takes more than 6 months but approval is normally given. Normally, small businesses will not apply for any FIC approval unless there is business with the government departments.

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.

The companies with foreign ownership that are engaged in distributive trade are required to obtain a wholesale and retail trade (WRT) license from the Malaysian Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs (MDTCA) [KEMENTERIAN PERDAGANGAN DALAM NEGERI DAN HAL EHWAL PENGGUNA (KPHDN)]. For WRT, the minimum paid up capital requirement is RM 1 milion. Other companies with foreign ownership that are not engaged in distributive trade do not require a WRT license. For further information, kindly visit KPHDN's website at

   http://www.kpdnkk.gov.my

Foreign Investment Committee Approval

Foreign investors may have to obtain the approval from the FIC for the following:

•  any proposed acquistion by foreign interests of any substantial fixed assets in Malaysia
•  any proposed acquisition of assets or any interests, mergers and take-overs of companies and businesses in Malysia by any means, which will result in ownership or control passing to foreign interests
•  any proposed acquisition of 15% or more of the voting power by any one foreign interest or associated group or by foreign interesst in the aggregate of 30% or more of the voting power of a Malaysian company and business
•  control of Malaysian companies and businesses through any form of joint-venture agreement, management agreement and technical assistance or other arrangements
•  any mergers and take-over of any company and business in Malaysia whether by Malaysian or foreign interests
•  any other proposed acquisition of assets or interests exceeding RM10 milion in value whether by Malaysian or foreign interests (the threshold was revised to RM10 milion with effect from 21 May 2003)
•  any acquisition by Malaysian interests of shares in Malaysian incorporated companies which constitutes more than 50% of the voting poer of the company, i.e. where it gains statutory control

Specific projects approved by the Government are exempted from the requirement of obtaining FIC's prior approval. Normally, small businesses will not apply for any FIC approval unless there is business with the government departments. For further information, kinly visit KPHDN's website at