Firms’ enrolment crosses 300,000 milestone

Dawn reported that the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) registered 4,761 new companies in August, lifting the total number of registered firms to 311,765. The regulator said the count crossed the 300,000 mark, which it attributed largely to digital registration. Almost all of them, about 99.9 per cent, went through online channels linked across federal and provincial platforms.

Private companies were the largest category, with 2,762 registrations or 58.01 per cent of the month's total, followed by 1,846 single-member firms. Another 113 limited liability partnerships, 28 not-for-profit companies and 12 more companies, among them public and foreign ones, were also incorporated. Punjab recorded 2,547 registrations, or 53 per cent, ahead of Islamabad Capital Territory with 843 and Sindh with 702.

Information technology remained the leading sector for monthly registrations, with 872 new incorporations. Islamabad also outpaced Sindh, as more firms registered there, mainly in trading and IT. SECP chairman Dr Kabir Ahmed Sidhu linked the steady rise in registrations to growing trust among entrepreneurs and investors in the regulatory framework.