At least 405 new companies have been registered with the Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) since the last one month. The number of registered companies in the country has now reached 65,125. According to an SCEP notification, at least 91 percent firms are registered as private limited companies, six percent as a single member and three have been registered as public limited companies or associations. At least 65 companies have been registered in service sector, 51 in trading, 45 in information technology, 33 in tourism, 26 in construction, 12 in power generation, 11 in corporate agriculture farming and 10 each companies are registered in food, medicine and beverage fields. At least 12 companies have received investment from Australia, Canada, China, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Singapore, Sweden, Turkey, UK and the United States. The foreign investment went to trading, corporate, information technology, power generation, chemical, and fuel and energy sectors. Most of the investment was made in Lahore where 132 companies had applied for registration. At least 113 companies were registered in Karachi, 109 in Islamabad, 23 in Peshawar, 13 in Multan, 10 in Faisalabad, three in Sukkur and two in Quetta. At least 71 applications were approved for increase in the amount of unpaid capital in September and a total of Rs 143.36 billion additional capital had been approved. Besides, 92 companies had applied for increase in the limit of paid up capital and a total of Rs 6.82 billion additional capital was approved for these companies.
It is a good omen that the country has started receiving foreign investment after it had become an undeclared pariah state in the comity of nations. The country has suffered trillions of dollars losses since former dictator Pervez Musharraf jumped into the so-called war on terror. Thousands of people have been killed in bomb blasts and suicide attacks while economic activities also came to a grinding halt. Pakistan is still regarded as one of the most dangerous countries in the world. India, which remained unconcerned in the war against terrorism, took all the credit of Pakistan’s sacrifices and it is even pointing finger at Islamabad for insecurity in the region. However, the ice has now started melting and the democratically elected government has no choice but to convince the world community to invest in Pakistan and improve its economy. Otherwise, God forbade, a weak Pakistan will become such a monster that no other country will be able to control it and live in peace.