Macau does justice to Mark Twain’s famous aphorism: it is a city “where common sense is the least common of senses”

If you are a foreigner thinking of opening a small business in Macau, think twice because you may end up in a Catch-22 situation.

It is a sad fact that Macau is in desperate need of qualified people, particularly in the hospitality and restaurant businesses, where customer service is close to non-existent. To find a good waiter or waitress in any of the so-called five-star hotels or high-end restaurants is a miracle.

But if you, as a non-resident, try to open your own business, it is quite likely you will run into irrational laws and regulations that make it (almost) a mission impossible.

The initial steps in opening a business are not very difficult. You can resort to the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute, which has the knowledge and expertise to assist people with all the paperwork.

Once you have presented all the documentation, you have to wait between four and six weeks for the government to approve it and to get the proper permits. It then takes two more weeks for the trade institute to give you the final nod.

Now that you have got your paperwork done, your company is a reality – at least on paper. Unfortunately, you, as the owner, cannot be employed by it. Yes, that is right: owners cannot work for their own company. That means they cannot develop their business, find customers or do any management work. As ridiculous as it sounds, this is the rule.

To solve this problem means no end of trouble. For you to be legally employed by your own company, your company needs to apply for a work permit – a blue card – for you.

The problem is that if you are the sole owner of the company, you cannot hire yourself. So, you need to get a partner, who will sign the paperwork and apply to import you as qualified, managerial-level personnel.

Greetings, earthling

Then a new problem emerges: to get an imported labour quota, you must hire a certain number of locals and hope that your imported labour request is approved. Otherwise, you will end up with a handful of employees and a useless registered company.

For the sake of argument, let us say your application is approved and you get a work permit. You can now start running and developing your business, hobbled by several employees on the payroll and not one cent in revenue.

Remember that from step one, you have been racing against the clock. An entry visa in many cases allows you to stay in Macau for a maximum of 30 days; after that you have to apply for an extension, which is likely to be for only 90 days, and it is hard to get all the necessary approvals within that time. If you spend 60 to 70 days registering your company, that leaves very little time for all the rest.

I did not make all this up. It happened to me.

I am now trying to set up my own company in Macau, to provide training, coaching seminars and other services to the tourism industry. It is a complete waste of time and money.

In a speech to Congress in May 1961, U.S. President John Kennedy challenged his nation to put a man on the moon before the end of the decade. Eight years later, in July 1969, Neil Armstrong put his toe into the moondust, uttering the historic words: “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.”

We are now in the year 2011. More than 40 years ago, a man walked on the moon for the first time. Yet getting a foothold in Macau to do business is still beyond human ingenuity.

How long will it take for the government to realise that some of Macau’s laws and regulations severely hinder the city’s efforts to keep up with a fast-changing universe?

By Gustavo Cavaliere  / Hospitality industry expert – gustavo.cavaliere@gmail.com