Companies registration more than doubles in May

ISLAMABAD: Registration of companies with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) more than doubled in May over the same month a year earlier with 1,597 new businesses registered during the month, the SECP said on Friday.

“This is for the second consistent month that over 100 percent growth in incorporation of new companies is being witnessed. The trend of growth is attributed to digitalisation/automation, introduction of simplified combined processes for name reservation and incorporation, and facilitation extended by the SECP’s newly established business centre,” the commission said in a statement.

The monthly growth was also due to base-effect with economic activities staying sluggish due to lockdown related to COVID-19.

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan has 143,416 companies registered in its database. In May, around 99 percent companies were registered online, 36 percent of applicants completed the incorporation process same day while 175 foreign users were also registered from overseas.

In May, 68 percent companies had been private limited, 28 percent single member and remaining 4 percent comprise public unlisted companies, not for profit associations, trade organizations and limited liability partnerships.

The construction and real estate sector took the lead with incorporation of 252 companies, while companies in other sectors include trading 247, information and technology 216, services 149, e-commerce 64, food and beverages 59, education 51, corporate agricultural farming 50, market and development 39, textile 37, tourism 34, chemical 33, healthcare 31, engineering 29, auto and allied 27, logging 25, pharmaceutical 24, mining and quarrying 21, broadcasting and telecasting, and fuel and energy 19 each, cables and electric goods, paper and board, and transport 16 each, cosmetics and toiletries 14, power generation 12, communication 11 and remining 67 companies were registered in other sectors.

Foreign investment has been reported in 48 new companies from Azerbaijan, China, Denmark, Germany, Korea South, Kuwait, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Singapore, Turkey, UAE, the UK and the US, according to the SECP. The highest numbers of companies (519) were registered in Islamabad, followed by 513 and 250 companies registered in Lahore and Karachi, respectively.

The company registration offices in Peshawar, Multan, Faisalabad, Gilgit-Baltistan, Quetta and Sukkur registered 116, 88, 62, 36, 11 and two companies, respectively.