The Middle East Investor Relations Society (ME-IR Society) has launched its Dubai Chapter, marking its fourth Chapter launch this year.

The informal supervisory board of the new Chapter will aim to improve the quality of investor relations practices and related educational resources in Dubai, a statement from the society said.

The launch follows on from the recent success of the second DFM Interactive IR Workshop titled ‘Achieving Good Investor Relations and Corporate Governance’ which was organised in association with the ME-IR Society earlier this month.

The new Chapter board will consist listed companies from Dubai Financial Market and Nasdaq Dubai including Arabtec, Depa, Dubai Islamic Bank, DP World, Du, Emaar, Emirates NBD, Shuaa Capital and DFM, in addition to Thomson Reuters and Bank of New York Mellon who will represent the ME-IR Society founding members.

DFM will chair the board of nominated representatives. The Chapter will focus on promoting investor relations as a distinct and essential part of the corporate landscape, and seek to enhance the reputation, efficiency and attractiveness of both private and public firms in Dubai.

Paul Reynolds, chairman of the ME-IR Society, said: “2012 has been a most productive year for the Society. We now have a membership base drawn from 15 countries and our training days this year alone have qualified eleven IRO’s, with further training planned for Qatar in May and Lebanon in September.”

“This development takes the number of our chapters up to four, with four more chapters planned to launch later this year. The Society is extremely pleased that its work is increasingly widely seen to be important in further enhancing the reputation of local capital markets and that it is so enthusiastically supported by exchanges and regulators across the region.”

Essa Abdul Fattah Kazim, managing director and chief executive, DFM, said: “DFM has persistently shown unquestionable commitment towards investor relations which plays a vital role in providing listed companies with effective communication tools for its investors.”

“Clearly, companies devoted to strengthening the relation with shareholders will spare no effort to hire teams that are qualified to cater to their evolving needs. We believe in the significance of IR in further enhancing the investors’ confidence in companies and improving transparency,” he added. “Therefore, DFM encourages its listed companies to employ the best available tools to further interact with investors.”

Through the partnership, the Dubai Chapter of the ME-IR Society will arrange to meet once a quarter to organise workshops and host annual IR conferences in line with its other chapters in Qatar, Kuwait and Palestine.

Utilising Chapter feedback, the ME-IR Society will provide practical assistance to companies through education programmes, conferences and share IR studies, documents and surveys.

Alex Menage, head of corporate services at Thomson Reuters and co-founder of the ME-IR Society, said: ‘’ We believe events such as this will help unlock the full potential of DFM and its listed companies, and contribute to the improvement of overall IR standards  bringing regional efforts more in line with global policies.’’

The next UAE based ME-IR Society certified investor relations officer training courses will be announced in the near future, along with literature explaining the role of the committee and information on how other Dubai listed companies can join the Society. – TradeArabia News Service