ISLAMABAD: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) registered 1,076 new companies in July, up 30 per cent compared to the corresponding month of previous year, raising the number of registered companies to 88,701.

The massive increase is the result of SECP’s various reforms measures which include the introduction of simplified combined process for name reservation and incorporation, reduction of fee as well as assistance for incorporation by CRO facilitation wings.

Around 73pc of the companies were registered as private limited, while around 24pc were registered as single-member companies. The remaining 3pc were public unlisted, non-profit associations, foreign companies and limited liability partnership.

The trading sector took the lead with the incorporation of 197 entities, construction 135, services 126, information technology 111, tourism 46, real estate development 35, education, marketing and development with 33 each, engineering 32, corporate agricultural farming 31, food and beverages 25, broadcasting and telecasting, textile and transport with 18 each, fuel and energy and healthcare 17 each, pharmaceutical 15, cable and electric goods and paper and board 11 each, and 147 companies in other sectors. Moreover, 8 foreign companies were also registered by CROs in Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore.

Foreign investment has been reported in 47 new firms. These have investors from Australia, China, Germany, South Korea, the Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Spain, Thailand, Turkey and the United Kingdom.

Islamabad recorded the highest number of registrations at 432, followed by 285 in Lahore and 175 companies in Karachi. The CROs in Peshawar, Gilgit-Baltistan, Multan, Faisalabad, Quetta, and Sukkur stood at 68, 49, 33, 21, 8 and 5, respectively.

Published in Dawn, August 3rd, 2018