ISLAMABAD: The total number of registered companies with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) with addition of 2,185 new company registration in April 2021, a statement said on Wednesday.
The SECP said that the company registration has been increased by 186 percent in April 2021 as compared with the same month of the last year.
In April 2021, around 99 percent companies were registered online, 29 percent of applicants completed the incorporation process the same day while 220 foreign users were also registered from overseas.
SECP chairman Amir Khan attributed the trend of growth to digitalization and automation, introduction of simplified combined process for name reservation and incorporation, very low level of fees, and assistance provided for incorporation by the newly established business center.
The SECP said that the April incorporation including 67 percent private limited companies, 29 percent single member companies and the remaining 4 percent were public unlisted companies, not for profit associations, trade organizations, foreign companies and limited liability partnership (LLPs).
The IT sector, for the first time, took lead with the registration of 194 new companies in a month. The IT sector was followed by the trading sector with registration of 180 new companies, construction with 117, import and export with 115, and consultancy services with 110 companies.
Foreign investment has been reported in 47 new companies. These companies have foreign investors from USA, China, Saudi Arabia, Germany, UAE, Greece, Turkey, Norway, Canada, Netherlands, Syria, UK, Hong Kong and Australia.
The highest numbers of companies i.e. 736 were registered in Islamabad, followed by 667, 378 and 151 companies registered in Lahore, Karachi and Peshawar, respectively. The CRO in Multan, Faisalabad, Gilgit-Baltistan, Quetta and Sukkur registered 131, 48, 48, 23 and 3 companies respectively.
