The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) registered 2,414 new companies in February 2023, bringing the total number of registered companies to 187,569. The total paid-up capital (capitalization) of the companies incorporated in February was Rs 2.5 billion. Approximately 57% of businesses were registered as private limited companies, 40% as single-member businesses, and 3% as limited liability partnerships, not-for-profit organizations, and unlisted public companies (LLP). Further, almost 99.9% of businesses registered online. The new registration includes four foreign companies and 94 companies, incorporated by foreign users from overseas. The real estate development & construction sector took the lead with incorporation of 387 companies, followed by information technology with 335, trading with 299, and services with 262 companies. Further, 120 companies were incorporated in the food and beverage sector; 118 in the tourism sector; 100 in the education sector; and 61 in the e-commerce and engineering sectors. The other sectors with incorporations include textiles (54 companies), corporate agricultural farming, marketing and advertisement (53 each), healthcare (50), chemicals (39), pharmaceuticals (36), transport (36), auto & allied (31), power generation (30), mining & quarrying (28), lodging (27), fuel & energy (25), communications (24), cables and electrical goods (16), broadcasting & telecasting (14), paper & board (13), and 11 companies registered in the arts and culture area (105 companies). As a result of the integration of SECP’s E-services with FBR and various provincial departments, 2,327 companies were registered with FBR for the generation of NTN, 89 companies with EOBI, 45 companies with PESSI/SESSI, and 48 companies with the excise and taxation department. Foreign investment has been reported in 56 new companies, with foreign investors from Afghanistan, Australia, China, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Kenya, South Korea, Malaysia, Nigeria, Singapore, Switzerland, Turkey, the UAE, the UK, the USA, and Yemen. A major chunk of investment was received from China with 27 companies, South Korea with 05 companies, the UK and USA with 04 each, Afghanistan and Germany with 3 each, Japan and Singapore with 2 each, and 8 companies from other countries. The SECP also has a dedicated WhatsApp facility for instant resolution of queries pertaining to name availability and incorporation processes, and during this month, around 1073 queries were responded to with a 96% satisfaction rate. *-*-*-*-*
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