ISLAMABAD: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has registered 1,956 new companies in November 2020, indicating an increase of 41pc when compared with the corresponding period last year.
Around 71pc companies were registered as private limited companies; 26pc were registered as single member companies; whereas three per cent were registered as public unlisted companies, not for profit associations, trade organizations, foreign companies and limited liability partnership (LLP).
In November, around 99pc companies were registered online; 30pc of new incorporations were completed the same day. During the month under review, 117 foreign users registered companies from overseas.
The trading sector took the lead with the incorporation of 319 companies, followed by IT with 230, construction with 209, services with 198, real estate development with 139, corporate agricultural farming and food & beverages with 74 each, e-commerce with 73, engineering with 60, tourism with 51, education 48, pharmaceutical 47, market & development 43, textile 40, transport 35, chemical 33, healthcare 31, auto & allied 27, fuel & energy and mining & quarrying with 23 each, logging 22, cosmetics & toiletries 21, communications 17, broadcasting & telecasting 16, power generation 14, cables & electric goods and steel & allied with 12 each. In addition, 65 companies were registered in “other” category.
Foreign investment has been reported in 34 new companies. These included investments from Australia, China, Germany, Iran, Italy, Kazakhstan, Korea South, Lebanon, Mozambique, the Netherlands, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Syria, Turkey, the UAE, the UK and the US.
The highest numbers of companies, i.e. 628 were registered in Islamabad, followed by 625 and 349 companies registered in Lahore and Karachi, respectively. Regional offices in Peshawar, Multan, Faisalabad, Gilgit-Baltistan, Quetta and Sukkur registered 127, 109, 64, 27, 22 and five companies, respectively.
