How to Choose a Name for Your Company in Indonesia

Are you preparing to set up a company in Indonesia? Choosing the name is the first step of the process, and your proposed name has to meet a set of conditions before the Ministry of Law will approve it.

This is important because everything else waits on it. The notarial deed, the tax registration, and your business identification number all depend on an approved name, so a rejected application holds up the entire incorporation.

Every Indonesian company name also begins with the letters PT, so that is the place to start.

What Does PT Stand For in Indonesia?

PT stands for Perseroan Terbatas, which is Indonesian for limited liability company. It is the equivalent of Ltd in the United Kingdom, GmbH in Germany, or Sdn Bhd in Malaysia.

One difference is worth noting immediately. PT is written in front of the company name rather than after it, so a company appears as PT Karya Mandiri Sejahtera and never as Karya Mandiri Sejahtera PT.

You will also see PT combined with other abbreviations, and each of these describes a different kind of company:

• PT PMA stands for Perseroan Terbatas Penanaman Modal Asing, a limited company with foreign investment. This is the structure foreign investors use.
• PT PMDN stands for Penanaman Modal Dalam Negeri, a limited company owned entirely by Indonesian citizens or Indonesian entities. This is what people mean by a local PT.
• Tbk stands for Terbuka, meaning open, and it is added at the end of the name of a publicly listed company, as in PT Bank Mandiri Tbk.

Requirements for a Company Name in Indonesia

The naming rules are set out in Government Regulation 43 of 2011 on the submission and use of company names, and in Minister of Law and Human Rights Regulation 14 of 2021.

They apply to every limited liability company in Indonesia, whether it is foreign or domestically owned, and your proposed name must satisfy all of them before the Ministry of Law will approve it.

1. It must contain at least three words

This requirement was introduced by Permenkumham 14/2021 and applies to all limited liability companies. For example, "PT Logistics Services" would be rejected, while "PT Great Logistics Services" would be acceptable. As the PT prefix identifies the legal form rather than the company, it does not count towards the three words.

2. It must use Latin characters

Greek, Cyrillic, Arabic, Chinese, and other scripts are not accepted, regardless of the alphabet your brand uses in its home market.

3. It cannot consist of numbers or letters that do not form words

A name such as "PT 123 Trading Indonesia" would be rejected, as would a name built from initials that do not spell anything. However, you can register an abbreviation alongside the full name. This is how PT Sahabat Finansial Sejahtera is also able to trade as PT Safira.

4. It cannot suggest a different legal form

Suffixes such as Ltd, GmbH, Sdn Bhd, Pte, Inc, NV, BV, Co, UD, and similar terms are rejected, because the legal form of your company in Indonesia is the PT.

5. It cannot be similar to an existing company or institution

Names that resemble registered companies, government bodies, or international organizations will be refused. The test covers names that merely sound similar, not just those that are identical.

6. It cannot be offensive

Names that conflict with public order or decency are rejected. A word that is harmless in English can carry a different meaning in Indonesian, so if you are unsure how a particular word reads, it is worth checking before you file. Our guide to Indonesian business culture covers the wider context.

7. It must be consistent with your business purpose

The name should not mislead anyone about what the company does, so a company registered for tourism activities cannot describe itself as trading.

There is a strategic consideration attached to that last point. If your name states your industry directly, it can limit you when you want to add business classifications later. Therefore, a more neutral name generally gives you more flexibility as the business develops.

You can check the preferred company name in Indonesia by using our name search tool.

Can Your Company Name Be in English?

This is the one rule that depends on company ownership. Under Article 11 of PP 43/2011, companies owned entirely by Indonesian citizens or Indonesian legal entities are required to use an Indonesian-language name. Because a PT PMA has foreign shareholders, that requirement does not apply to it.

Your company name can therefore be in English or another language, provided it meets all of the conditions above.

Process of Reserving a Company Name in Indonesia

1. Check whether your name is available

Name checks are free. You can search for company names at no cost using our Indonesia company name search tool to see whether a proposed name is already in use or resembles an existing one.

Bear in mind that the results are provisional. A name is not held for you until it has been formally reserved, so another applicant can take it in the meantime.

2. Prepare alternatives

It is advisable to bring three name options to your notary rather than one. Applications are rejected for reasons that are difficult to predict from outside the system, and having alternatives ready means a rejection costs you an afternoon rather than a week.

3. Reserve the name through a notary

Reservation is submitted by a notary through the legal entity administration system (SABH). Your notary purchases a PNBP voucher, currently IDR 200,000, and submits the proposed name for approval by the Ministry of Law.

As local incorporation experts, Emerhub can handle this process on your behalf.

4. Proceed to incorporation

Once the name is approved, your notary can prepare the deed of establishment and the remaining incorporation documents. From this point, the process follows the standard steps for registering a company in Indonesia.

How Long Does Name Approval Last?

An approved name is reserved for 60 days from the date of approval. If your incorporation is likely to extend beyond that period, the reservation can be renewed, and the renewal can be submitted from seven days before the expiry date.

If the reservation lapses without being renewed, the name returns to the pool and becomes available to other applicants. Therefore, it is worth tracking the expiry date alongside the rest of your incorporation timeline.

Choosing a Name That Is Likely to Be Approved

Indonesian company names draw on a relatively small vocabulary, which makes collisions common. According to our sister company companieshouse.id, which holds records on close to a million registered companies, the most frequently used words are:

The pattern reflects local naming conventions, where words suggesting strength, prosperity, and endurance are popular. For instance, "Mandiri" appears in tens of thousands of company names with no connection to Bank Mandiri.

For your own application, this list is worth treating as a caution. Names assembled entirely from common words are the most likely to resemble something already on the register, so including at least one distinctive word tends to clear approval more quickly.

Your Company Name and Your Brand Name

Your registered company name and your brand do not have to match. The company name is a legal identifier, while your brand is what appears on your storefront, your packaging, and your marketing. A two-word brand works perfectly well alongside a three-word company name.

Protecting the brand is a separate exercise. Indonesia has been a member of the Madrid Protocol since 2 January 2018, so you can either designate Indonesia in an international trademark registration or file directly with the Directorate General of Intellectual Property (DJKI).

Whichever route you choose, file early. Indonesia awards trademarks on a first-to-file basis, which means the first applicant generally prevails over the first user. Foreign brands that have delayed registration have found their names already registered by unrelated local applicants, and recovering the mark afterwards costs considerably more than registering it would have.

There is one exception to the naming rules described above. If you are opening a representative office, you can use your parent company's name, supported by a letter from headquarters confirming the relationship.

Changing Your Company Name After Incorporation

You can change your company name after incorporation. However, the process runs across several agencies and takes considerably longer than getting the name right the first time, because changing the name means amending your articles of association.

The steps are as follows:

1. Reserve the new name: Your proposed name goes through the same reservation and approval process as the original, and it has to satisfy all of the requirements described above.
2. Pass a shareholders' resolution: The change must be approved at a General Meeting of Shareholders (RUPS), and the decision has to be properly recorded.
3. Execute a notarial deed: A notary prepares the deed of amendment that records the change to your articles of association.
4. Obtain Ministry of Law approval: Your notary submits the amendment through the legal entity administration system, and the ministry issues a decree confirming the new name.
5. Update your other registrations: The new name then has to be reflected in your tax registration, your business identification number and licenses in the OSS system, your corporate bank accounts, and your existing contracts.

Budget for notary fees, state fees, and the administrative time involved at each agency. For that reason, it is worth investing time in the original choice rather than treating the name as something you can revisit easily.

Common Reasons Company Names Are Rejected

• The name contains only two words
• The name is too similar to a company already on the register
• The name includes a foreign legal form suffix such as Ltd or Pte
• The name uses numerals or letter combinations that do not form words
• The name conflicts with the company's stated business purpose
• The name uses non-Latin characters

Registering Your Company in Indonesia with Emerhub

Emerhub handles name reservation as part of company registration in Indonesia. We check your shortlist against the register, identify the options that are unlikely to be approved, and file the approved name through the notary on your behalf.

From there, we take the incorporation through to the deed of establishment, approval from the Ministry of Law, tax registration, and your business identification number in the OSS system.

To get started, tell our Jakarta team what you plan to do in Indonesia and which names you are considering, and we will tell you which of them are likely to clear.