ISLAMABAD – The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) registered 1,401 new companies. As compared to the corresponding month of the last financial year, it represents a22 percent growth, raising the number of registered companies to 97,916.
The massive increase is the result of the SECP’s various reforms measures, i.e. introduction of simplified combined process for name reservation and incorporation, reduction of incorporation fee, assistance provided by facilitation wings of CROs for incorporation and one window facility for company incorporation and NTN generation, etc.
Around 72 percent companies were registered as private limited companies, while around 24 percent were registered as single member companies. 4 percent were registered as public unlisted companies, non-profit associations, foreign companies and limited liability partnerships (LLPs).
The trading sector took the lead with the incorporation of 202 companies, construction with 171, I.T. with 151, services with 143, tourism with 141, food and beverages with 60, real estate development with 52, corporate agricultural farming with 51, education with 44, marketing and advertisement with 37, transport with 36, textile with 33, engineering with 32, pharmaceutical with 21, healthcare with 19, lodging and allied with 18, power generation, and chemical with 17 each, auto and allied with 16, fuel and energy with 15, communication with 14, mining and quarrying, and steel and allied with 13 each and 85 companies were registered in other sectors.
Foreign investment has been reported in 54 new companies from Australia, Canada, China, Finland, Germany, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Libya, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Poland, South Africa, Spain, UAE and the US.
The highest numbers of companies, i.e. 532 were registered in Islamabad, followed by 375 and 252 companies registered in Lahore and Karachi respectively. The CROs in Peshawar, Multan, Gilgit-Baltistan, Faisalabad, Quetta, and Sukkur registered, 94, 59, 34, 28, 23 and 4 companies respectively.
