ISLAMABAD   -   The Securities and Exchange Commis­sion of Pakistan (SECP) registered 2,651 new companies in January 2024, show­ing an increase of 10% compared to the corresponding period last year.

The total number of registered com­panies now stands at 212,108. Total capitalization (paid-up capital) with re­gard to newly incorporated companies is PKR 5.2 billion. In January, around 58% of companies were registered as private limited companies, 38% as single member companies, and 4% as public unlisted companies, not-for-profit associations, trade organizations, limited liability partnerships, and for­eign companies. Five foreign companies also registered their place of business in Pakistan. Around 138 foreign applicants were registered from overseas through eServices. Almost 99.85 percent of com­panies were registered online.

The information technology sector took the lead with regards to incorpora­tion with 356 companies, trading with 319, real estate development & con­struction, and services with 277 each, tourism with 145, education with 116, food & beverages with 94, corporate ag­ricultural farming with 93, e-commerce with 72, engineering with 65, chemi­cal with 61, power generation with 58, marketing & advertisement, and textile with 55 each. Furthermore, pharmaceu­tical, mining & quarrying with 53 each, healthcare with 48, , fuel and energy with 45, transport with 44, cosmetics & toiletries with 33, communication with 28, broadcasting & telecasting with 27, lodging, and auto and allied with 22 each, cables & electrical goods with 19, paper & board with 18, and 196 compa­nies were registered in other sectors.

Foreign investment has been reported in 68 new companies, having foreign in­vestors from Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Canada, China, Egypt, Finland, Germany, Hungry, Japan, Malta, Nigeria, Pales­tine, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, UAE, UK, Ukraine, and the US. The major chunk of investment was received from China with 37 companies, Germany, Singapore and US with 4 com­panies each, Afghanistan with 03, Cana­da, Sri Lanka and UK wit 2 each, and in 10 companies from other countries. As a result of successful integration of SECP with FBR and various provincial depart­ments, 2,552 companies were regis­tered with FBR for registration of NTN, 42 companies with EOBI, 28 companies with PESSI/SESSI and 34 companies with Excise and Taxation department.