ISLAMABAD: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) registered 27,746 new companies in outgoing 2022-23, taking the tally to 196,805.

This shows an increase of around five per cent over the preceding year, and as a result of digital incorporation process, about 99.8pc companies were registered online while 1,256 foreign users were registered from overseas.

The total capitalisation of the newly incorporated companies in FY23 stood at Rs36.6 billion.

Real estate development & construction sector led the number of new incorporations with 4,527 followed by information technology with 4,038 and trading with 3,539 new companies.

SECP has made significant reforms to facilitate the registration of companies by fully digitising the registration process, along with company registration certificate. With this automation, companies can now be registered online from any part of the world, without needing to visit SECP offices.

As a result of integration of SECP with FBR and various provincial departments, 26,125 companies were registered with FBR for registration of NTN, 819 companies with EOBI, 317 companies with PESSI/SESSI and 569 companies with excise and taxation department in FY23.

During FY23, foreign investment has been reported in 841 new companies. Major chunk of investment was received from China with 448 companies, the US with 46, the UK with 36, Afghanistan with 35, Germany with 32, Turkey and South Korea with 16 each, UAE with 15, Singapore with 11, Nigeria with 10, and 176 companies from other countries.

Published in Dawn, July 21st, 2023