353 companies registered in February

Nationals from eight countries invest in seven new companies.

ISLAMABAD:

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has registered 353 companies in February, slightly higher than 356 companies registered in January.

Private companies have the highest share in the new incorporations with 319, followed by 21 single-member companies, 5 public unlisted companies, 3 non-profit association and 5 foreign companies, says a statement released by the regulator.

Of the five foreign companies from the US, France, UK, Spain and South Korea, four were registered in Islamabad while one was registered in Lahore. Nationals from Qatar, Lebanon, Australia, Portugal, Italy, North Korea, Ukraine and Panama invested in seven new local companies.

The sector-wise breakdown shows that the services sector had the highest share with 46 companies, followed by trading with 44, hajj and umrah services with 30, construction with 22, IT with 23, food and beverages with 16, tourism with 20, communication with 18 and broadcasting and telecasting with 10 companies.

The Company Registration Office (CRO) in Lahore registered 115 companies, followed by 93 and 92 companies in Karachi and Islamabad, respectively. The remaining CROs in Peshawar, Multan, Faisalabad, Quetta and Sukkur registered 19, 18, 10, 4 and 2 companies, respectively.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 10^th, 2012.