The Foreign Investment Advisory Board should be the first point of contact for potential investors, providing detailed information on all requirements. The Board also processes applications for investment licenses. Insurance companies who are applicants must submit both a certificate stating that the company is authorized to transact business in the country of registration or incorporation and a certified copy of the last annual company statement. In addition to an investment license, foreign investors must also obtain a business license from the local government authorities of the area in which they intend to operate. Companies can be incorporated by submitting the charter and by-laws to the registrar of corporations in the office of the Attorney General.
Fees vary according to the degree of local participation.
There are no Government imposed price controls in the Marshall Islands. Marshall Islanders are categorized as Micronesians. The census population in 1988 was 43,335 with an annual growth rate of four percent. Approximately 66 percent of the population live in the urban centres of Majuro and Ebeye. Marshallese is the official language although English is widely spoken and, as a result of the Japanese occupation of the islands during World War II, some older people can converse in Japanese.