Islamabad November 18 2022: During the current financial year 2021-22, 26,502 new companies were registered 4 percent higher when compared to the previous year, according to Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP).
Due to this growth, the total number of registered companies now reached to 172,234.
In terms of efficiency, 99.4 percent companies were registered online during the current year and around 23 percent companies were registered within the same day. The outcome are the result of the strategic use of automation and process optimization to benefit end users and shorten the overall time required to launch a business in Pakistan.
Out of the companies registered during the financial year 2021-22, approximately 64 percent companies were registered as private limited companies, 33 percent as single-member companies, and the remaining were registered either, as public unlisted, not-for-profit associations, trade organisations, foreign companies or limited liability partnerships.
Sector wise breakdown of registered companies during the current year shows that the construction and real estate sector took the lead with incorporation of 4,791 companies. This was followed by IT with 3,760 companies, trading with 3,534 companies, services with 2,408 companies, and Ecommerce with 1,038 companies. Education related companies registered were 962, food and beverages companies were 937, tourism companies were 790, textile companies were 701, and marketing and advertisement companies were 671. The remaining companies were registered in other sectors.
Foreign investment was reported in 681 new companies. Most foreign investment is from China (288 companies), followed by USA (44 companies), UK (42 companies), Afghanistan (40 companies), Germany (27 companies), Canada (15 companies), South Korea (14 companies), Turkey (14 companies), Saudi Arabia (13 companies), Palestine (11 companies), Netherlands (10 companies), Australia (8 companies), Norway (8 companies), and Singapore (8 companies). Few foreign investors are from Italy, Japan, Jordan, Lebanon, Philippines, Russia, Sri Lanka, UAE, Denmark, South Africa, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Hong Kong, Oman, Switzerland, Thailand, Bangladesh, France, Iraq, Ireland, Kenya, Malaysia, Sweden, Belgium, Qatar, Spain, Ukraine, AJK, Austria, Myanmar, Cyprus, Indonesia, Iran, Kazakhstan, North Korea, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Malta, New Zealand, Niger, Nigeria, Paraguay, Poland, Romania, Senegal, Syria, Taiwan, Vietnam, Yemen, and Zambia. Moreover, 22 foreign companies from China, USA, Portugal, Turkey, UAE, Turkey, South Korea, UAE, Switzerland, Spain, and Germany have established places of business in Pakistan during the financial year.
