ISLAMABAD: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) registered 1,130 new companies in December.
As compared to the corresponding month of the last financial year, it represents a growth of 43 per cent, raising the number of registered companies to 94,205. The massive increase is the result of the SECP’s various reforms measures, including the introduction of a simplified combined process for name reservation and incorporation, reduction of fee, assistance of incorporation by facilitation wings of CROs etc.
Around 74 per cent companies were registered as private limited companies, while around 24 per cent were registered as single member companies. Two per cent were registered as public unlisted, non-profit associations, foreign companies and limited liability partnerships (LLP).
The trading sector took the lead with the incorporation of 201 companies, IT with 138, services with 136, construction with 116, tourism with 67, education with 37, food and beverages with 35, real estate development with 33, engineering, and marketing & advertisement with 32 each, corporate agricultural farming with 27, pharmaceutical with 24, transport with 23, textile 21, chemical, fuel and energy, healthcare, and mining and quarrying with 16 each, paper and board 15, communication 14, auto and allied with 12 while 103 companies were registered in other sectors.
Foreign investment has been reported in 57 new companies. These companies included foreign investors from Canada, China, Greece, Hungary, Japan, Kenya, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Tunisia, the UK, the USA and Vietnam.
The highest numbers of companies, 404, were registered in Islamabad, followed by 301 and 205 companies registered in Lahore and Karachi respectively. The CROs in Peshawar, Gilgit-Baltistan, Multan, Faisalabad, Quetta, and Sukkur registered 88, 53, 47, 21, 9 and 2 companies respectively.
