ISLAMABAD, May 26: The total number of registered companies in Pakistan hovers at around 60,000 only while there are some three million businesses that operate as non-corporate entities and they need to incorporated, chairman SECP Muhammad Ali said on Saturday.

Mr Ali was addressing the concluding session of the two-day registrars’ conference organised by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) on the theme ‘Sharing knowledge, sharing successes.’

He stressed that there is an urgent need to get these businesses incorporated so that ‘they become part of the formal and documented sector’.

Enhancing corporate structuring of business is a key factor towards documentation of the economy and the SECP has to take a pro active role in this regard, he maintained.

The conference was aimed at sharing ideas and knowledge on elevating the role of the registrar, both as a regulator and facilitator.

It was highlighted that the Company Registration Offices (CROs) of the SECP need to focus on the interaction among registrars.

The conference identified the areas that need to enhance the operational role of the registrars, besides planning towards future. It was stressed that implementation of an action plan was needed to achieve collective success through coordination among the registrars.

During the conference, a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis of the registrars’ function was performed, on the basis of which an action plan was devised and responsibilities were assigned for its implementation.

Commissioner Company Law Division Tahir Mahmood called upon the SECP registrars working across the country towards contributing to the development of the corporate sector.

Executive Director Corporisation and Compliance Department Nazir Ahmad Shaheen presented the performance review, targets with a special focus on moving towards a paperless environment and analysis of operational matters to find possible solutions. Other discussion areas were best international practices, coordination among the registrars and other departments of the SECP.