The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) registered 2,234 new companies in November 2023. The total number of registered companies now stands at 207,654. Total capitalization (paid-up capital) with regard to newly incorporated companies for the current month stood at Rs. 7.74 billion.
Around 58 percent companies were registered as private limited companies, while 39 percent were registered as single-member companies. The remaining 3 percent were registered as public unlisted companies, not-for-profit associations, trade organizations and limited liability partnerships (LLP), and Foreign Companies.
Two foreign companies have also established a place of business in Pakistan. Almost 99.6 percent of companies were registered online while 0.4 percent were incorporated offline. Around 116 foreign applicants were registered from overseas through eServices.
The information technology and trading sectors took the lead with the incorporation of 313 companies each, services with 271, real estate development and construction with 243, tourism with 106, food and beverages with 83, education with 76, mining and quarrying with 67, marketing and advertisement with 56, corporate agricultural farming with 52, transport and engineering with 51 each, ecommerce and power generation with 48 each, pharmaceutical with 41, textile with 38, chemical with 35, fuel and energy with 32, healthcare with 29, broadcasting and telecasting with 26, lodging with 25, cosmetics and toiletries with 19, communications and paper and board with 12 each, cables and electrical goods with 11 and 176 companies were registered in other sectors.
As a result of the integration of SECP with FBR and various provincial departments, 2,169 companies were registered with FBR for registration of NTN, 57 companies with EOBI, 39 companies with PESSI/SESSI, and 38 companies with excise and taxation department.
Foreign investment has been reported in 72 new companies, having foreign investors from Afghanistan, Australia, Azerbaijan, China, Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Iran, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mongolia, the Netherlands, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, UAE, UK, and the US. A major chunk of investment was received from China with 44 companies, Turkey with 4, Azerbaijan with 3, Afghanistan, Germany, Malaysia, and Netherlands, and the US with 2 each, and in 11 companies from other countries.
The SECP has also a dedicated WhatsApp facility for instant resolution of queries about name availability and the incorporation process and during this month, around 1,172 queries were responded to.
SOURCE: PRO PAKISTANI