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Wednesday, April 24, 2024 16:55 GMT
Boursa Kuwait succeeded in remaining operational with minimal impact on trades and transactions despite the Covid-19 pandemic, thanks to the swift adoption of effective health and safety protocols as per government guidance, said its Head of Markets Sector, Noura Al-Abdulkareem. She was speaking at the ‘Investing in Kuwait’ virtual forum, the third in a series of digital briefing events held from London Silicon Valley. Jointly presented by Financial Times Live, fDi Intelligence and the Kuwait Direct Investment Promotion Authority (KDIPA), the forum provided an outstanding platform for the discussion of investment opportunities in the country’s post-Covid business environment.Taking part in the lively and informative panel discussion, ‘Kuwait’s Capital Markets and Economic Development,' Al Abdulkareem said: "Throughout the pandemic, Boursa Kuwait and the capital market apparatus have been taking every step necessary to allow our operations to continue normally with no interruption, working closely with our partners across the international investment community to ensure that the key projects we had in the pipeline were completed.""During 2020, we oversaw the self-listing of Boursa Kuwait on the exchange and successfully managed the inclusion of seven listed companies into the MSCI Emerging Markets Index," she stated in the panel discussion which also featured fellow industry experts and business leaders.According to her, the inclusion of Kuwait in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index generated unprecedented inflows, with the successful inclusion of seven listed companies resulting in more than KD 961.6 million traded during a single day. The company has also successfully introduced its first offering of real estate investment trusts (REITs), stated Al Abdulkareem. Boursa Kuwait’s position as a regional leader among stock exchanges also continued to be reinforced with the listing of the bourse on the local stock exchange, continuing a series of firsts for the company. It is the first stock exchange to be at least 90% owned by the private sector in the Middle East and the first government entity in Kuwait to successfully undergo privatization. Al Abdulkareem said the listing represented a major milestone in the bourse's journey that will elevate the country’s stature regionally, making it undoubtedly one of the biggest success stories of the last five years for the Kuwaiti financial scene. "Despite the challenges of the pandemic, we are attracting more investments and have achieved record-setting revenues and profits. We aim to continue to roll out new products and services to further develop the capital market and attract investors and issuers from all classes," she added.