Samoa, which changed its name from Western Samoa in July 1997, is a group of 9 islands situated in the South Pacific east of the International Date line. At various stages, Samoa has been administered by Britain, Germany and New Zealand. Samoa, where English is the language of government and commerce, became independent in 1962, and retains a parliamentary form of government. Since independence, Samoa, has developed as a politically stable nation.

As an Ideal Place for Back Office Support advantages are listed as follows:

New low fees for Re-domiciliation

Ever growing professional and commercial infrastructure

Chinese characters allowed in company names

Chinese Embassy facilitating legalising documents for Mainland China

Samoa's offshore corporate legislation was originally introduced in the late 1980 and was based on Cook Islands legislation but has now included numerous enhancements to make it more "user-friendly" and to suit the requirements of the Asian market. Of particular note are the following:
1. Chinese character names ( and other foreign languages ) are permitted in addition to English names on Certificates of Incorporation in a properly supervised manner;
2. Documents may be filed in any language;
3. Companies may pay their license fees for 5, 10 or 20 years in advance and substantial discounts are offered to companies that elect to take up this offer; and
4. In order to attract business from more expensive jurisdictions in difficult economic times, Samoa has, in August 1998 introduced legislation that enables the easy migration of companies in a convenient and effective manner. The government fee for re-domiciling is US$100. Samoa has also reduced the annual license fees for these companies ( no matter what the authorised capital is ) and has announced a special offer for re-domiciled companies whereby the annual government license fee is only US$100.

All companies must have a minimum of one director, one shareholder and a secretary. Corporate directors are permitted and bearer shares are also allowed. All companies must have a Registered Office and a Registered Agent in Samoa which must be a licensed trust company. There are requirements for Samoan companies to prepare Registers of Directors and Members and for these to be kept at the Registered Office. The shareholders may waive the requirements for annual returns and / or audited accounts.

The local infrastructure in Samoa is presently very sound and improving continually. A number of leading accounting firms have offices in Samoa and there are numerous legal practices. At present there are two retail banks in Samoa. Another important feature is the presence of a Chinese Embassy which is particularly helpful when legalising or apostilling documents required for transactions and business in mainland China.

The directors and management of Manivest are professionals in the offshore industry having served the Asia markets for over fifteen years. Through our offices in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Macao as well as our associates in other Asia cities, we offer a full range of comprehensive value-added services to professional advisors and their clients.

Manivest offers the following services:

Incorporation of Samoa and other offshore/onshore companies and structures

Application of Offshore Institution Permit

Full corporate management services

Registered office, business office, mail redirection and business centre (available in selected locations only)

Accounting services

Re-invoicing services

Asset protection and preservation advisory services

Business establishment services

Market exploration services

For an installation fee and a monthly fixed management fee, our packaged corporate management services provide a full service package which include:

Assessment of your tax and asset planning scheme

Application of Offshore Institution Permit and establishment of an office

Engagement of office staff

Maintenance of your Macao Offshore Office, including day-to-day management, re-invoicing services, personnel matter, import and export procedures.