Representative Office

Indonesia Representative Office procedure
A Representative Office can be established depending upon the line of business and the necessary licenses issued by the related government department. The limitation of a Representative Office is that they are not allowed to conduct direct sales and cannot issue Bills of Lading.

Representative offices are set up primarily for marketing, market research, or as buying or selling agents. The related government ministries are:
Representative Office from Ministry of Industry & Trade - for bilateral trade
Representative Office from Ministry of Public Work - for consultant or contractor
Representative Office from Ministry of Mining - for mining activities
Representative Office from Ministry of Finance - for banking
Representative Office from Investment Board (BKPM) - regional representativeTo establish a Representative Office with permission from the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the company's head office needs to issue three letters:
Letter of Intent - stating the intention of the company to establish a representative office
Letter of Appointment - stating the appointment of the chief representative
Letter of Statement - stating that the Chief Representative will follow Indonesian regulations

The three letters must be stamped by a notary public and approved by the Indonesian Embassy in the home country of the firm. Upon approval, the Indonesian Embassy will issue a Letter of Notification (Surat Keterangan). Upon completion of the four letters the process can continue to the related government ministry in Jakarta, to incorporate a fixed license for 2 years.

Other ministries require different types of letters.