Qatar Exchange Hosts London Forum to Attract Foreign Investments

Doha, June 17 (QNA) - Senior management from top companies listed on Qatar Exchange (QE) held talks with key decision-makers from the world's largest fund managers recently in a bid to attract more foreign investments into the Qatari bourse. The talks were held in London at a two-day forum organised by QE jointly with HSBC. Eight listed companies, representing more than half of the QE's market capitalization, participated in the London forum. Representatives from Qatar National Bank, Doha Bank, Ooredoo (previously called Q-Tel), Commercial Bank of Qatar, Industries Qatar, Al Khaliji Commercial Bank, Qatar Electricity and Water, and Masraf Al Rayyan attended the forum. This initiative to pull in more investments into Qatar is significant since the QE, with a market cap of over US $140 billion (more than QR 512 Bn), was last week upgraded to Emerging Market status from Frontier Market by index compiler Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI). In a combination of one-to-one and group meetings representatives from Qatari listed companies met with over 50 fund managers, representing thirty five major institutions, showcased investment opportunities. QE hosted over 80s meetings with representatives of these key institutions which allocate funds into Qatar and other GCC nations, the Qatari bourse said. QE Listings Director Abdul Aziz Al Emadi said the Forum provided an opportunity for a detailed two-way dialogue between investors and companies in a focused one-on-one environment. "We are all very aware investor relations is a key component of a listed companies' communication strategy in today's competitive market for capital. "At a time when retail and institutional investors, both in Qatar and internationally, are focused on achieving growth in a low interest rate environment educating the investor base as to the merits of a companies' investment story is becoming increasingly important. "We expect our listed companies to benefit from the opportunity to better inform the market about their corporate strategy. For fund managers the benefit is unrivalled access to the decision makers who are driving the growth of some of Qatar's largest companies and contributing in a significant way to Qatar's growth," he said. Since many years QE has been proactive with listed companies on investor relations which come in many guises, he said. "Each method is designed to inform stakeholders about the company, so that they can gain a better understanding of the company's business, its policies toward governance, financial performance and above all future prospects." QE is committed to transparency and improving the standards of information in the market because investors' needs and demands are increasing. Our listed companies are investing time and resources in ensuring they are meeting those changing needs, he said. (QNA)