ISLAMABAD: The number of companies registered with Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) during the fiscal year 2016-2017 was 8,286, recording an impressive growth of 34 per cent compared to 2015-16. The total number of registered companies now stands at 81,493.
Despite lower economic activity in June 2017 due to Ramazan and Eid holidays, the SECP registered 595 new companies in the month. Out of these, about 86 percent companies were registered as private limited companies, around 12 percent companies were single member companies and two percent were registered as public unlisted, trade organizations and foreign companies.
The service sector took the lead with the incorporation of 96 new companies, followed by trading sector with 86, construction with 84, information technology with 57, tourism with 35, education with 24, food and beverages with 19, corporate agricultural farming with 16, real estate development and textile with 14 each, auto and allied with 13, engineering and fuel and energy with 12 each, pharmaceutical, healthcare and transport with 10 each, and 83 companies were registered in other sectors. Moreover, two foreign companies were registered at the Company Registration Offices in Karachi and Islamabad.
The growing trend in company registration is the direct result of numerous reforms and facilitation measures undertaken by the SECP. The reforms aimed at simplifying procedures for business start-up, removing bottlenecks for timely regulatory approvals and reducing cost of starting a business, especially for small and medium enterprises.
