In October 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) recorded the registration of 2,463 new companies, bringing the total number of registered companies in the country to 205,456. The cumulative capitalization, or paid-up capital, of these newly incorporated companies amounted to Rs. 4.24 billion.
The breakdown of company registrations reveals that 56 percent were registered as private limited companies, 41 percent as single-member companies, and the remaining 3 percent included public unlisted companies, not-for-profit associations, trade organizations, limited liability partnerships (LLPs), and foreign companies. Almost 99.6 percent of these companies completed their registrations online, and three foreign companies established places of business in Pakistan.
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In terms of sector distribution, the information technology sector led with 326 incorporations, followed by trading with 322, services with 298, real estate development & construction with 290, education with 107, tourism with 100, food & beverages with 90, e-commerce and mining & quarrying with 67 each, corporate agricultural farming with 63, marketing & advertisement with 61, textile with 55, pharmaceutical with 54, transport with 49, engineering and chemical with 45 each, power generation with 44, healthcare with 32, cosmetics & toiletries with 31, broadcasting & telecasting with 30, lodging with 28, communications with 24, cables & electrical goods, and paper & board with 16 each, and 203 companies registered in other sectors.
The SECP’s eService, integrated with the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and other provincial departments, was utilized by 2,281 companies for registration with FBR. Additionally, 61 companies registered with the Employees Old Age Benefit Institute (EOBI), 27 with PESSI/SESSI, and 34 with excise and taxation departments.
Foreign investment was reported in 75 new companies, with investors from countries such as Afghanistan, Algeria, Australia, China, Denmark, El Salvador, France, Germany, Indonesia, South Korea, Libya, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Spain, Syria, Thailand, Turkey, the UAE, the UK, and the US. The majority of foreign investment came from China, with 40 companies, followed by Afghanistan with 5, the UK with 4, and Germany and the UAE with 3 each. Additionally, there were 2 companies each from the Netherlands, Norway, and the US, with 14 companies from other countries contributing to foreign investment.
