globally) impose different requirements on foreign and domestic companies. The economies that distinguish between the two usually generally impose higher requirements for foreign-owned companies. In some economies such as Ghana, Papua New Guinea and Thailand, foreign companies are subject to minimum capital requirements while domestic ones are not. Table 4 illustrates some examples.

**<mark>Table 4. Examples of minimum paid-in capital requirements</mark>**

|Ethiopia|The minimum capital requirement for a foreign investor is US$ 100,000 unless it invests with a<br>domesticpartner,in which case the minimum capital requirement is US$60,000.|
|---|---|
|Ghana|Under the Ghana Investment Promotion Center Act (GIPC), minimum capital requirements are set as<br>follows: (a) US$ 10,000 for ventures involving foreign and Ghanaian partners, (b) US$ 50,000 for wholly<br>foreign-owned companies,and(c)US$300,000 for tradingcompanies involvinga foreignpartner.|
|Papua New Guinea|The minimum capital requirement for a foreign-owned company is US$ 50,000.|
|Thailand|According to Section 14 of the Foreign Business Act, the minimum capital is calculated from the<br>company's estimated expenditure as submitted to the Ministry of Commerce. In any case, the<br>minimum capital requirement shall be at least US$ 100,000 for foreign-owned companies. A domestic<br>companyheld byThai nationals can be set upwith the minimal capital of US$0.5.|

_Source: FDI Regulations_ database 2012

# _Online services_

The convenience and efficiency of access to online information is important to all businesses, but in particular to foreign investors who are not physically present in the country. For this reason, it is helpful if information on laws and regulations are available online. Better yet is the availability of registration forms and other related documents for download, and the possibility for e-registration and monitoring. Only 3 of the 87 economies measured in 2010 did not have their commercial laws and regulations publicly available online, namely Ethiopia Ghana and Liberia. Today, Ethiopia has improved and now offers this online service to foreign companies, leaving Ghana and Liberia lagging behind. In addition, across all economies measured in 2012, Italy is the only country that offers an e-filing option for all establishment procedures, including company registration with the commercial registry, registration with the tax authorities, registration for social security, and obtaining international trade license. For the remaining economies, the procedure that is most often available online is the company registration with the commercial registry. The high-income OECD region leads the way with 94% economies making company registration documentation downloadable online (Table 5). Singapore and Rwanda are the top performing economies as the whole registration can be achieved online.

|**Table 5. Examples of economies of**<br>**documentation, receiving confirma**<br>|**fering complete online registration services (includes downloading and submitting**<br>**tion of registration)**<br>|
|---|---|
|**Sub-Saharan Africa**|Rwanda|
|**East Asia and Pacific**|Brunei Darussalam; Malaysia; Singapore; Taiwan, China; Thailand|
|**Eastern Europe and Central Asia**|Armenia; Bulgaria; Macedonia,FYR|
|**Latin America and Caribbean**|None|
|**Middle East and North Africa**|None|
|**High-Income OECD**|Australia; Canada; Italy; Japan; Korea, Rep.; New Zealand; Slovak Republic|
|**South Asia**|Bangladesh; India; Pakistan|

_Source: FDI Regulations_ database 2012 22