All three countries advertise a «one-stop shop», but each one’s door opens into a different room: Vietnam’s one-stop is a provincial gateway with two sequential certificates; Indonesia’s is risk-based on the OSS system; Thailand’s is a genuine single window only for BOI-promoted projects. The right comparison is not counting days on paper but identifying at which gate your project will be slowed in each system.
One-stop architecture: three different models under one name
Vietnam organises the reception point around the provincial investment registration authority (the Department of Finance after apparatus rearrangement, or the industrial park and economic zone management board for in-park projects): the investor files the project dossier for an investment registration certificate, then registers the enterprise for an enterprise registration certificate under Enterprise Law 59/2020/QH14 and the current business registration framework in Decree 168/2025/ND-CP (replacing Decree 01/2021/ND-CP from 1 July 2025). The two certificates are two separate decisions — «one-stop» here means one local gateway, not one single approval. Since 1 July 2025 Vietnam operates two-tier local government after provincial mergers, and the provincial gateway and authority have organisational changes that investors should verify for the specific province during the transition.
Indonesia goes furthest on digitisation: the risk-based OSS system (framework of Regulation PP 5/2021) issues the business identification number NIB online, and the NIB doubles as the base licence — low-risk projects are treated as permitted on standard commitments, while high-risk ones require approval and physical verification before operating. Thailand has no general one-stop for all FDI: company registration with the Department of Business Development (DBD) is fast, but the true «one-stop» — the One Start One Stop centre — operates end-to-end only for projects already granted BOI promotion, where sector licences and work permits are consolidated into one gateway.
Actual 2026 formation time: practice ranges and the real bottlenecks
In commonly encountered practice ranges (not statutory promises), an FDI company in an unconditional sector in Vietnam usually completes the certificate pair within a few weeks, of which enterprise registration takes only a few working days and most of the time sits in the investment dossier and its explanations. Indonesia delivers an NIB within days for low-risk projects, but time to «actually operating» stretches with sector licences and post-issuance commitments. Thailand registers a legal entity within days if the sector is not foreign-restricted; if a Foreign Business Licence (FBL) under the Foreign Business Act is required, the path extends to several months, while the BOI route, though appraised, is usually faster and more predictable.
The common bottleneck rarely sits at the first certificate but in the layers after it: capital accounts and loan registration, sector sub-licences (construction, environment, fire safety, food safety), land lease and construction permits, and foreign staff registration. When comparing the three countries, investors should compare «time to full lawful operation» on their own sector checklist rather than formation-certificate time — in the same country the two figures can differ by months. This article deliberately does not cite any single statutory day-count for the investment approval step in Vietnam, because such a figure does not represent the whole path and misleads when detached from project conditions.
Conditional sectors: the extension factor does not sit at the one-stop window
In Vietnam, for foreign investors the largest variable is the list of sectors with conditional market access under Investment Law 143/2025/QH15: sectors not yet committed for opening, or opened with conditions (equity ratios, presence forms, investor conditions), push the dossier into appraisal and ministerial consultation — this is where a path of weeks turns into months. Thailand structures the same issue through the restricted lists of the Foreign Business Act (List 1 absolutely prohibited, List 2 requiring ministerial-level approval, List 3 requiring a licence) — a sector on the list means either BOI promotion for exemption, an ownership restructuring, or a changed business model. Indonesia uses the priority investment list and risk classification by KBLI sector code: for the same project, choosing the wrong code can lift the file from low risk to high risk and add an approval round.
The practical conclusion: in all three countries, formation time is a function of the sector before it is a function of the processing authority. The most valuable advisory work happens before any dossier is filed: determining which list the project’s sector falls into in each country, what the access conditions are, and whether a lawful alternative path exists (BOI promotion, the correct KBLI code, sector structuring in Vietnam). One week of advice at this stage routinely saves a quarter of waiting at the next.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does FDI company formation take in Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand in 2026?
In commonly encountered practice ranges (not statutory commitments): in Vietnam, a project in an unconditional sector usually completes the investment registration certificate and enterprise registration certificate within a few weeks, with enterprise registration itself taking a few working days; in Indonesia, the NIB via OSS can arrive within days for low-risk projects, but sector licences decide the time to operation; in Thailand, legal entity registration takes a few days if the sector is not foreign-restricted, while a required Foreign Business Licence extends the path to several months, with the BOI route usually more predictable. In all three countries, time to full operation (sector licences, land, construction, labour) is materially longer than entity formation time.
How do the investment one-stop mechanisms differ among the three countries?
They differ in nature. Vietnam’s is a gateway model: the provincial investment registration authority receives and processes the project file, but the investor still receives two separate decisions — the investment registration certificate, then the enterprise registration certificate. Indonesia’s is a system model: the risk-based OSS portal issues the NIB as the base licence, with approval intensity rising by sector risk class. Thailand’s is a privilege model: only BOI-promoted projects use the end-to-end One Start One Stop gateway; outside BOI, the enterprise passes through DBD registration and individual sector licences. The same «one-stop» label thus conceals three entirely different approval architectures.
How do conditional sectors extend licensing time in each country?
In Vietnam, a sector on the conditional market access list for foreign investors under Investment Law 143/2025/QH15 goes through appraisal and ministerial consultation, turning a path of weeks into months. In Thailand, a sector on the Foreign Business Act restricted lists (especially Lists 2 and 3) requires a Foreign Business Licence or the BOI promotion route for exemption. In Indonesia, the mechanism is risk classification by KBLI code on OSS: high-risk sectors need approval and pre-operation verification, low-risk sectors need only the NIB and standard commitments. In all three countries, the time factor is decided by the sector’s position on the list, not by the processing speed of the reception window.
How do formation costs and procedural steps compare?
In pure state fees, all three countries are inexpensive and fees are not the deciding factor; the difference lies in compliance cost around the procedure. Vietnam has two sequential approvals plus a post-formation sector licence layer, but no general minimum investment capital outside sector conditions. Indonesia applies a minimum investment value per sector field for investors (the framework commonly applied is IDR 10 billion per KBLI code per location, excluding land and buildings), making the initial commitment cost materially higher. Thailand’s minimum capital under the Foreign Business Act is low for ordinary licences, but the real cost sits in handling a restricted sector — through BOI or by restructuring the activity. A correct comparison totals the cost to lawful operation, including sector classification advice, rather than counting filing fees.
FLAT Law Firm advises on the stage that truly decides an FDI project’s speed: classifying the project’s sector against Vietnam’s conditional market access list (Investment Law 143/2025/QH15), mapping the Indonesian path (risk class and KBLI code on OSS) and the Thai path (restricted lists or the BOI route), and only then building a timeline on grounded practice ranges. A one-stop shop in three countries is three different rooms — knowing at which gate your project will slow, before filing anything, is the cheapest way to save time.