The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) registered 2,409 new companies in February 2023. The total number of registered companies now stands at 185,173. During the month, a record-breaking 174 companies were registered in a single day. Total capitalization (paid-up capital) with regard to newly incorporated companies for the current month stood at Rs 2.7 billion. About 57 percent of companies were registered as private limited companies, while 39 percent were registered as single-member companies. About 3 percent were registered as unlisted public companies, not-for-profit associations, trade organizations, and limited liability partnerships (LLPs). Nearly 99.8 percent of the companies were registered online. 101 foreign users were also registered from overseas. With 407 companies formed, the real estate development and construction sector led all other industries, followed by information technology (334), trading (321), services (250), tourism (99), food and beverage (97), education (86), e-commerce (77), corporate agricultural farming (63), pharmaceutical (51), textile (49), marketing & advertisement (47), engineering (44), healthcare (41), mining & quarrying (40), chemical (39), and transport (35). There were 108 companies registered in other sectors, including transportation (35), power generation (34), fuel & energy (27), lodging (26), communications (23), cosmetics & toiletries (20), broadcast & telecasting (20), cables (19), electrical goods (18), auto & allied (18), paper & board (17), and arts and culture (17). The integration of SECP with FBR and other provincial agencies led to the registration of 2,255 firms with FBR for the creation of NTN, 40 companies with EOBI, 41 companies with PESSI/SESSI, and 30 companies with the excise and revenue department. Foreign investment has been reported in 62 new companies, with foreign investors from Afghanistan, Canada, Chile, China, Egypt, Germany, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Koea South, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Singapore, Switzerland, Tanzania, the UK, and the USA. A major chunk of investment was received from China with 32 companies, Chile and Canada with 3 companies each, Egypt, Germany, Nigeria, Norway, Tanzania, the UK, and the USA with 2 companies each, and 10 companies with other countries. Additionally, the SECP has launched a special WhatsApp service for taking inquiries. Around 895 WhatsApp inquiries from domestic and international investors about name availability and incorporation were answered during this month, with a 91% satisfaction score. ****************
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