ISLAMABAD: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has said the total number of registered companies in the country has reached 84,201 following the incorporation of 881 new firms in November 2017, a growth of 40 per cent over the same period last fiscal year.

“The massive increase in number of new companies is the direct result of various reforms measures introduced by the SECP, i.e., simplification of incorporation procedure, reduction of fee, assistance of incorporation by facilitation wings of CROs etc.,” the SECP said in a press release.

“Around 82 per cent companies were registered as private limited companies, while around 16 per cent were registered as single member firms. Two per cent of the companies were registered as public unlisted, association not for profit, under section 43, trade organisation and foreign companies.”

The apex corporate regulator said the services sector took the lead with the incorporation of 134 companies, trading with 118, construction with 107, information technology with 91, tourism with 52, engineering with 38, education with 29, food and beverages with 28, real estate development and corporate agricultural farming with 22 each, textile with 20, healthcare with 18, pharmaceutical and transport with 16 each, auto and allied and cable and electric goods with 11 each and 148 companies were registered in other sectors.

“In addition, five foreign companies were also registered by the CROs in Karachi and Islamabad,” the SECP added.

The watchdog said foreign investment has been reported in 47 new companies.

“These companies have foreign investors from, Afghanistan, Australia, Canada, China, Italy, Korea (south), Lebnon, Macedonia, Mauritius, Mexico, Poland, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland, the UK and the US,” the regulator said.

It added that during the month, the highest numbers of companies, i.e. 309 were registered at the Company Registration Office (CRO), Islamabad, followed by 253 and 165 companies registered at CRO Lahore and Karachi respectively.

Agencies