What benefit did you get out of this? We go there in person so a bit different for us, and helpful in a new start up.
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So far I haven’t used it. One problem that came up from doing research is that local banks won’t open a bank account for you if you don’t have ties there. So if you’re able to open an account there then it could work out. Or you could use Wise but it’s not a traditional bank so rather risky (some online reports of accounts being locked for months pending review).
I find their VAT reporting to be too cumbersome for a small company and there’s better structures where you only have to report things once per year, so I don’t think I will make use of the e-resident ID.
Which bank did you go to that gave you trouble was that in Tallinn or other city like tartu, I was curious. I went to some, seems nice. Also for Wise, I had good service but I think in general banks do get lots of bad reviews posted, just look here in Taiwan on google branch reviews and here too. Seems people that are do not post reviews much.
I haven’t made it that far yet - I got my e-resident ID, was doing research on reddit about how easy it is to incorporate and run a business in Estonia, and decided not to open a company there since it seems hard to open a traditional bank account if not a resident there, especially virtually.
Were you able to open a business account with no monthly fees?
Yes, a business one but it is real business. So was wondering about the e resident for Taiwanese since you can not get the card in Taiwan (no Estonia gov offices)
Closest embassy might be in Singapore
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I hear people suggesting Taipei taking over from HK as the financial hub for SEA, and while I can’t deny there’s an opportunity there, I feel like Singapore is in a far better position for that on multiple levels.
I think Taiwan is more like Korea or Japan than HK/Singapore, and will develop closer to what those countries are like in terms of immigration, economy, diversity, etc.
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Right, but I don’t see Japan or Korea taking over the SEA money pile from HK either. Not that Singapore doesn’t have some restrictions as well, but it’s a lot more nimble if it wanted to take the lead.
It may also not be a goal of Taiwan/Korea/Japan to become a financial hub. I think these countries care more about protectionism - protecting local industries, protecting from foreign investments, cautious immigration policies, keeping financial industries closely controlled domestically, etc. Whereas HK/SG have a large portion of foreigners and foreign investments and want to act as a financial hub in Asia, and their policies reflect it.
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Also Tokyo. Estonia and Japan have some tie ups/links, easier for Japanese to be a resident in EE.
We added staff there from Taiwan, so see how that goes. They like the working culture, it being very clean, safe (like Japan) and modern. The downside is the weather (winter)
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