ISLAMABAD: The Secu­ri­­ties and Exchange Com­mission of Pakistan (SECP) enrolled 2,201 companies in January, taking the total number of registered companies to 134,797.

Out of new incorporations, 98 per cent were registered online and around 30pc applicants completed registration process in the same day.

Around 69pc companies were registered as private limited companies, while around 28pc as single member companies and 3pc as public unlisted companies, not-for-profit associations, foreign companies and Limited Liability Partner­ship (LLP).

During the month, 66 foreign users completed registration from overseas.

The trading sector topped with 314 fresh incorporations in January, information technology 269, construction 227, services and allied 188, and e-commerce 79. While 1,124 were registered in other sectors.

Foreign investment has been reported in 44 new companies, from China, Malaysia, Sweden, South Africa, Norway, the Nether­lands, Turkey, UK and US.

The SECP’s Business Centre registered 837 new firms in January, which is a record by a single Company Registra­tion Office.

CRO Lahore and Karachi registered 623 and 319 companies respectively.

Published in Dawn, February 9th, 2021