The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan released incorporation statistics showing 21,668 new companies registered in the first six months of the current financial year, contributing PKR 30.7 billion in paid-up capital. Registrations were 29% higher than the 16,839 companies incorporated in the same period last year, taking the total number of registered companies to 279,724. IT and E-Commerce led sectoral incorporations with 4,277 companies, followed by trading (2,997), services (2,686) and real estate (2,031). Foreign investment was recorded in 524 newly incorporated companies totaling PKR 1.26 billion from 731 foreign investors, with China accounting for 71% of inflows and Afghanistan 8%, while the United States contributed 2%, the United Kingdom, Germany, South Africa, South Korea, Norway, Vietnam, Nigeria and Bangladesh contributed 1% each, and other countries 11%.