The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) in February registered 1,021 new companies. When compared to the corresponding month of last financial year, it represents a growth of 19 percent.
After February, the total number of registered companies has risen to 84,809. The massive increase in number of new companies is the direct result of various reforms measures introduced by the SECP, i.e. simplification of incorporation procedure, reduction of fee, assistance of incorporation by facilitation wings of CROs etc.
Around 81 percent companies were registered as private limited companies, while around 17 percent were registered as single-member companies. Two percent were registered as public unlisted, non-profit associations, trade organization and foreign companies.
The services sector took the lead with the incorporation of 162 companies, including companies from the following sectors:
Moreover, 3 foreign companies were also registered by the CROs in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad.
Foreign investment has been reported in 40 new companies. These companies have foreign investors from Argentina, China, Denmark, Germany, Jordan, Kenya, South Korea, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, Sweden and the US.
During the month, the highest numbers of companies, i.e. 345 were registered at the Company Registration Office (CRO), Islamabad, followed by 303 and 195 companies registered in Lahore and Karachi respectively. The CROs in Peshawar, Multan, Gilgit-Baltistan Faisalabad, Quetta, and Sukkur registered 53, 48, 38, 25, 12 and 2 companies respectively.