The chairman of the Saudi Capital Market Authority (CMA) rang The Opening Bell at the New York Stock Exchange yesterday (March 23).

Dr Abdulrahman A Al-Tuwaijri, who led a Saudi delegation, addressed US
institutional investors to highlight investment opportunities in Saudi Arabia.

The delegation also included several executives from leading Saudi companies such as Almarai, Etihad Etisalat (Mobily), Jarir Marketing Company, Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma'aden), National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia, Samba Capital, Saudi Research and Marketing Group, Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) and Saudi Telecom Company.

'Saudi Arabia has managed to emerge in a position of relative strength from the severe global financial turbulence of the past year,' said Dr Al-Tuwaijri.

'The Tadawul return was around 30 percent last year making Saudi Arabia the best performing market in the Gulf,' he added.

'The reforms of the past decade have been carefully sequenced. The government has implemented new measures to liberalise our market in order to ensure the right regulatory framework and market infrastructure are firmly in place - and these measures are succeeding.'

'Since opening up our markets to foreign participation through swap agreements, we have seen over $7.2 billion in trades flow into Saudi Arabia -  and as foreign investors become more familiar with the market, we expect this level to grow,' said Dr Al-Tuwaijri.-TradeArabia News Service