Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) held an event that brought together leading decision makers and industry professionals from within Qatar to engage, discuss and debate on compelling and interesting topics that matter to the Qatari capital market.

 

The second session of the Exchange Views series of discussions, under the theme 'Realizing Qatar's true potential with MSCI, included several top panelists.

 

Rashid bin Ali Al-Mansoori, chief executive officer, QSE, described the significant role of the exchange in consolidating the investment climate in Qatar and also the incluion of the Qatar in MSCI EM Index as an added value to the Qatari market, especially in view of the fact that this inclusion has shed light on the Qatari market before local and global investment community, adding that this fact is evident in the number of account opening applications in the first quarter of last year, following the inclusion, which was equal to the number of account opening applications in 2013.

 

The QSE is working very closely with its listed companies with a view to inclusion in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index and increase the weight of the existing companies in it, noting that these efforts have resulted in the inclusion of several listed companies in this global index, he said. 

 

Mohsin Mujtaba, market and product development director, QSE, hosted the panel discussion and explained the rationale of such an event as a channel for open conversation between all stakeholders, especially in view of the fact that there is much talk about reforms in the local, regional and global capital markets. 

 

Robert Ansari, executive director at MSCI - Middle East, stated that the value of global investments tracking MSCI benchmarks worth $9.6 trillion and the inclusion in these indices requires satisfying quantitative criteria such as liquidity and trading values, as well as qualitative criteria such as market accessibility. 

 

The international investors look at particular factors when they take investment decisions in a particular market, he said.

 

Among these factors is the increase of foreign ownership limits, adherence to the governance criteria, and availability of local research on the local market, flexibility of regulations, market accessibility, and communication, he added. - TradeArabia News Service