Islamabad – A new business record has been set in Pakistan with thousands of new companies registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) in a single month. Business activity in Pakistan’s corporate sector has witnessed a significant acceleration as the SECP set a new record for the registration of new companies during July. According to official figures, 5,438 new companies were registered across the country in July marking the highest number of registrations recorded in a single month. During the same period, five international companies also established their offices in Pakistan including companies from Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates and China. According to the report, 112 newly registered companies have foreign directors on their boards indicating growing foreign investment and international business interest in Pakistan. The newly registered companies include 3,148 private limited companies while Punjab remained at the top with 2,756 new companies registered. This was followed by Islamabad with 1,053, Sindh with 864, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with 450, Gilgit-Baltistan with 180 and Balochistan with 135 newly registered companies. IT sector leads new registrations A sector-wise analysis shows that Information Technology (IT) remained the leading sector with 1,008 new companies registered. Other sectors also recorded significant registrations including 845 companies in trading, 638 in services, 348 in construction, 256 in food and beverages, 207 in tourism, 181 in e-commerce, 165 in education, 162 in real estate development and 145 in corporate agriculture. According to business experts, the increasing number of new company registrations reflects growing private-sector investment, business confidence and new economic activity in the country. The rapid growth in registrations in the IT sector is also being viewed as a positive sign for the expansion of Pakistan’s digital economy.