Here is your first Forum » Top jurisdictions for business startup in Asia

As each individual result is based on the background and experience that created it, it may be helpful to take a quick look at already established startup companies in that geographic area before starting to explore the most popular and effective jurisdictions for incorporation in to describe Asia.

Asia is leading the growth in technology investment, defying the dismal numbers for other parts of the world with economic powerhouses in China and India. The most popular business areas or business trends in this region today are: E-Commerce, Marketplaces, Financial Technologies, Transportation, Biotechnologies, Computing Technologies, Internet Infrastructure and Enterprise Business Solutions Area. These sectors accounted for about 30% of VC investments a few years ago.

Market leader in Asia
Each of these areas has its leader in terms of business performance and funding. For example, e-commerce site Lazada was valued at $1.3 billion with total funding of $686 million. Ride-hailing cab application Grab has received $680 million in funding. There are other Asian startups that have really great potential: Zalora (e-commerce sector, fashion industry); PropertyGuru (real estate business); Elevenia (e-commerce area, marketplaces and platforms); M-DAQ (fintech area); Tokopedia (e-commerce section, consumer-to-consumer marketplace); Qoo10 (e-commerce section, business-to-consumer marketplace); Capillary Technologies (cloud-based customer loyalty platform for retailers); Aslan Pharmaceuticals (biotech company); IcarsClub (peer to peer car rental platform) and other companies. Most of these startups are formed in Southeast Asia in countries like Singapore, Malaysia, India, China, United Arab Emirates and Indonesia. These can be considered as the top 6 jurisdictions for company formation in Asia.

Singapore
This country has one of the best startup ecosystems in Asia Pacific. Today, around three and a half startups are active there. It is a well-known business center that is home to the headquarters of Uber, Facebook and Google. Therefore, the main areas of development include e-commerce, social media and gaming. It is a perfect place for e-commerce development as 9/10 of its citizens have access to a smartphone. Only half of Singapore's potential startup clients live abroad.

China
Beijing is one of the best startup cities in Asia along with Hong Kong, which is seeing global growth in startups across various industries such as fintech, hardware, and e-commerce. The second has about 2,000 small and large startups. China also has a tax break program for startups. Annual tax deductions are around $1,500 million. They are usually awarded to companies set up by previously unemployed workers and university graduates. Currently, the country operates about 1,500 business incubators created by the Ministry of Science and Technology. It is conducted as part of the 27-year Torch program, which provides policy, consulting and financial services to high-tech companies.

India
India has about 5,000 operational startups established in cities like Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai and others. New projects are actively funded, consolidated, growing financially and evolving in the technical sense. India is making a revolution in this business field that is fundamentally changing the way markets work today. There are some estimates by the Internet and Mobile Association of India showing that India has 500 million internet users worldwide in 2017. This place also has a lot of high-calibre talent, a larger number of investors willing to invest in potentially successful projects, rather affordable real estate prices, support from experienced professionals, and a supportive government.

Malaysia
The country has had special programs for startups since 2013, which support them and help entrepreneurs by equipping them with skills, networks and the necessary knowledge. These programs are the largest startup accelerators in this region. It is also perfect for developing and nurturing foreign talent. Hence, Malaysia has a really supportive government. Incidentally, the cost of living in Malaysia is significantly cheaper than in Singapore. Another advantage is that the country has a good test market, which is slightly larger than the Singapore market.

Indonesia
This jurisprudence is more cooperative compared to other countries. There is also a large flow of investors in the country entering the market. For example, Jakarta gathers investors around the world focused on e-commerce, travel and lifestyle.