The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) registered 2,595 new companies in March 2023, raising the total number of registered companies to 190,16, said a news release issued here on Friday. Total capitalization (paid-up capital) with regard to newly incorporated companies for the current month stood at Rs 1.8 billion. About 58 percent of companies were registered as private limited companies, while 39 percent were registered as single-member companies. Around three percent of companies were registered as public unlisted companies, not-for-profit associations, and limited liability partnerships (LLP). Almost 99.69 percent of companies were registered online and 159 foreign users were registered from overseas. The information technology sector took the lead with the incorporation of with 397 Companies, real estate development & construction 385 each, trading with 339, services with 282, education with 121, tourism with 106, food & beverages with 96, e-commerce 74, marketing & advertisement with 72, textile with 62, corporate agricultural farming 51, engineering with 49, mining & quarrying with 48, healthcare with 44, pharmaceutical 39, power generation with 37, cosmetics and toiletries and chemical with 34 each, transport with 33, cables and electrical goods and broadcasting & telecasting with 26 each, communications with 25, fuel & energy with 24, paper & board with 20, auto & allied with 19, lodging with 18, arts and culture with 13 and 122 companies were registered in other sectors. As a result of the integration of SECP with FBR and various provincial departments, 2,496 companies were registered with FBR for the generation of NTN, 71 companies with EOBI, 62 companies with PESSI/SESSI and 51 companies with the excise and taxation department. Foreign investment had been reported in 89 new companies, These companies had foreign investors from Afghanistan, China, Denmark, Egypt, Germany, Indonesia, Korea South, Malaysia, Maldives, Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Philippines, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Tajikistan, Turkey, UAE, UK, and USA. A major chunk of investment was received from China with 47 companies, Nigeria with 05 companies, Germany and Philippines with four each, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, the UK, and the USA with three each, Afghanistan, Egypt, and South Korea with two each and from other countries in 11 companies. It is pertinent to mention here that the SECP also has a dedicated WhatsApp facility for instant resolution of queries pertaining to name availability and incorporation process and during this month, around 1,254 queries were responded to with a 95% satisfaction rate.