Thinking of opening an F&B business in Malaysia? 🍜
Most owners fail at the first step ❗

Not because business is hard
But because they don’t understand👇

Work passes + ESD setup 😳

Here’s the key👇

If you want to hire foreign staff
or relocate yourself to manage

You MUST have this first👇

Expatriate Services Division
(ESD Account)

Without it:

❌ No work pass
❌ No foreign hires

Now the most important part👇

For F&B, everything depends on shareholding + paid-up capital

Here’s the simplest breakdown👇

① 100% Local Ownership 🇲🇾

👉 Paid-up capital: RM250,000

Pros👇
✔ Lowest cost
✔ No WRT license needed

Best for👇
👉 Partnering with a local shareholder

② 51% Local + 49% Foreign

👉 Paid-up capital: RM350,000

Pros👇
✔ Balanced structure
✔ Still no WRT required

Very common setup for F&B businesses

③ 51%+ Foreign Ownership 🌏

👉 Paid-up capital: RM1,000,000
👉 MUST apply for WRT License

(Wholesale / Retail / Trade)

Cons👇

❌ Higher cost
❌ Stricter approval
❌ Longer process

But if you are fully foreign-owned
👉 This is mandatory

Besides structure & capital

You’ll also need👇

📄 Business license (Majlis License)
🏢 Tenancy agreement
👥 Local staff records (EPF / SOCSO)
📊 Company bank transactions

All of these affect👇

👉 ESD approval
👉 Work pass success

Here’s where many F&B owners fail👇

Shop is ready
Renovation done
Staff hired

Then suddenly…

❌ Work pass rejected
❌ Staff can’t legally work

Why?👇

No proper ESD planning

In Malaysia, the correct flow is👇

Company setup
→ ESD Account
→ Then apply work pass

Work passes include👇

💼 Employment Pass (EP)
(for owners / managers)

If you get this wrong

Everything gets stuck ❗

So when expanding F&B into Malaysia

The real key is NOT location

It’s👇

✔ Shareholding structure
✔ Paid-up capital
✔ ESD setup
✔ Work pass planning

If you are👇

✔ Opening an F&B business in Malaysia
✔ Applying for EP work pass
✔ Sending a team to operate locally

Make sure you set up

ESD + work pass structure properly

or fixing it later will cost you more ⚠️

We provide

Malaysia One-Stop ESD Solution 🌏

From company structure → ESD → work pass

Helping you set everything up right
so you can operate legally and scale smoothly.