How to open a foreign-owned company in Indonesia (the structural guide)

If you’re researching how to open a company in Indonesia as a foreigner, the first thing to understand is that you won’t be opening a “local” company. The moment a foreign individual or foreign company holds shares, your Indonesian entity is legally a PT PMA — a foreign direct investment limited liability company. Foreigners cannot hold a local PT (PT lokal) directly, so the PT PMA is the route. Get the structure right and everything downstream — licences, visas, bank accounts, property — follows cleanly. Get it wrong and you pay for it for years.

Step 1 — Classify the business (KBLI) before anything else

Every consequence flows from your KBLI code, Indonesia’s standard business-activity classification. Each 5-digit code sets three things: how much of the company a foreigner may own, your OSS risk level, and which licences you need. Under the Positive Investment List (Perpres 10/2021, as amended), most sectors are open to 100% foreign ownership by default — but some carry a 49% or 67% ceiling, and a few are reserved. So the honest answer to “can I own 100%?” only comes after the KBLI and ownership check. This is why a good consultant starts here, not at the notary.

Step 2 — Understand the two capital numbers

Founders constantly confuse these:

• Paid-up capital — IDR 2.5 billion. Under BKPM Reg 5/2025, the minimum upfront capital fell 75% (from IDR 10 billion). This cash sits in the company account and carries a 12-month lock-up — it can’t be withdrawn for a year unless spent on real operations, proven through quarterly LKPM reports.
• Investment plan — over IDR 10 billion. The total investment commitment per 5-digit KBLI per location is unchanged. This is a plan over time (assets + working capital), not cash up front.

Step 3 — Incorporate

With the classification settled, the path is:

1. Name reservation through Kemenkumham’s AHU system (Latin, three words, valid 60 days).
2. Notary deed (Akta Pendirian) setting out shareholding, capital, directors and commissioners.
3. Legal-entity approval (SK Kemenkumham) — the company legally exists.
4. Tax number (NPWP).
5. NIB and licences via OSS-RBA — your business ID number, plus a Standard Certificate or full Licence depending on risk level.
6. Bank account and capital injection.

With complete documents this takes roughly 4–8 weeks.

Step 4 — Plan visas and compliance from day one

You’ll likely want an Investor KITAS (based on your shareholding) or Work KITAS (if you’re employed by the company), and you’ll have ongoing LKPM and lock-up obligations from your first quarter. The companies that struggle in 2026 aren’t the ones that failed to incorporate — they’re the ones that went quiet on compliance afterward.

The shortcut

The structure above is the whole game. If you’d rather not assemble it yourself, send us your industry and your plan and we’ll return a clear setup roadmap — see PT PMA Company Setup. Tell us what you actually want to do in Indonesia, and we’ll tell you exactly what it takes to do it legally.