ISLAMABAD: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) registered 1,597 new companies in May 2021, witnessing a growth of 107 % as compared to corresponding period last year. The total number of registered companies increased to 143,416.
This is for the second consistent month that over 100% growth in incorporation of new companies is being witnessed. The trend of growth is attributed to digitalization/automation, introduction of simplified combined processes for name reservation and incorporation, and facilitation extended by the SECP’s newly established Business Centre.
In May, around 99% companies were registered online, 36% of applicants completed the incorporation process same day while 175 foreign users were also registered from overseas. During the month of May, 68% companies had been private limited, 28% single member and remaining 4% comprise public unlisted companies, not for profit associations, trade organizations and limited liability partnerships (LLP).
The construction and real estate sector took the lead with incorporation of 252 companies, while companies in other sectors include: trading 247, I.T 216, services 149, e-commerce 64, food & beverages 59, education 51, corporate agricultural farming 50, market & development 39, textile 37, tourism 34, chemical 33, healthcare 31, engineering 29, auto & allied 27, logging 25, pharmaceutical 24, mining & quarrying 21, broadcasting & telecasting, and fuel and energy 19 each, cables & electric goods, paper & board, and transport 16 each, cosmetics & toiletries 14, power generation 12, communication 11 and remining 67 companies were registered in other sectors.
Foreign investment has been reported in 48 new companies from Azerbaijan, China, Denmark, Germany, Korea South, Kuwait, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Singapore, Turkey, UAE, the UK and the US.
The highest numbers of companies, i.e. 519 were registered in Islamabad, followed by 513 and 250 companies registered in Lahore and Karachi respectively. The CROs in Peshawar, Multan, Faisalabad, Gilgit-Baltistan, Quetta and Sukkur registered 116, 88, 62, 36, 11 and 02 companies respectively.
