ISLAMABAD: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) registered 1,187 new companies in August, out of which 94 per cent companies were registered online through eServices and 52pc companies registered within same day, raising the number of total companies to 104,030.

Foreign investment has been reported in 38 new companies. These companies have foreign investors from China, Denmark, Ireland, Italy, Korea South, Mauritius, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, the UK and the US, the SECP announced on Thursday.

The new companies registered include 71pc private limited companies, 26pc single member companies and 3pc were registered as public unlisted companies, not for profit associations, trade organizations, foreign companies and Limited Liability Partnership (LLP).

Trading sector took the lead with 192 companies followed by, services with 148, construction with 132 and information technology with 120. 595 companies were registered in tourism, real estate development, education, food and beverages, engineering, corporate agricultural farming, marketing and development, chemical, mining and quarrying, and textile, pharmaceutical, transport, fuel and energy, and healthcare, auto and allied, and communication, logging, and power generation.

The 434 companies were registered in Islamabad, followed by 316 and 189 companies in Lahore and Karachi respectively.

Published in Dawn, September 13th, 2019