ISLAMABAD, December 15:  The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has registered 1,956 new companies in November 2020, indicating an increase of 41 % as compared to corresponding period last year.

Around 71 percent companies were registered as private limited companies and 26 percent were registered as single member companies. Three percent were registered as public unlisted companies, not for profit associations, trade organizations, foreign companies and limited liability partnership (LLP). In November, around 99 percent companies were registered online, while 30 percent of new incorporations completed same day. This month, 117 foreign users registered companies from overseas.

The trading sector took the lead with the incorporation of 319, IT with 230, construction with 209, services with 198, real estate development with 139, corporate agricultural farming, & food and beverages with 74 each, ecommerce with 73, engineering with 60,  tourism with 51, education with 48,  pharmaceutical with 47, market & development with 43,  textile with 40, transport with 35, chemical with 33,  healthcare with 31, auto & allied with 27, fuel & energy, and mining & quarrying with 23 each, logging with 22, cosmetics & toiletries with 21, communications with 17, broadcasting & telecasting with 16, power generation with 14, cables & electric goods, and steel & allied with 12 each, and 65 companies were registered in other sectors.

Foreign investment has been reported in 34 new companies. These companies have foreign investors from, Australia, China, Germany, Iran, Italy, Kazakhstan, Korea South, Lebanon, Mozambique, the Netherlands, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Syria, Turkey, the UAE, the UK and the US.

The highest numbers of companies, i.e. 628 were registered in Islamabad, followed by 625 and 349 companies registered in Lahore and Karachi respectively. The CROs in Peshawar, Multan, Faisalabad, Gilgit-Baltistan, Quetta and Sukkur registered 127, 109, 64, 27, 22 and 05 companies respectively