DOHA: The recent decision by Standard & Poors (S&P) Dow Jones to upgrade the Qatari market from a ‘Frontier Market’ to ‘Emerging Market’ will help attract further foreign investments to the Qatari stock market, said a press statement issued by Qatar Exchange (QE).
Rashid bin Ali Al Mansoori, CEO of QE, expressed his satisfaction to upgrade the rating of the Qatari market, saying: “It clearly reflects the recognition of the positive steps made by QE over the past years, in terms of the development of the market infrastructure and the implementation of a number of important projects and initiatives.”
Al Mansoori stressed that this decision comes as a natural result of the efforts pursued by the Exchange and other concerned parties in the financial markets sector in Qatar.
“This upgrade will attract more international investors to the stock market, on the grounds that many international investors are interested in investment in the emerging markets as the upgrade reflects the compliance with the best international practices.”
In a statement issued by S&P Dow Jones, the upgrade of Qatar status reflects meeting the S&P Dow Jones requirements for inclusion in Emerging markets, especially the degree of openness of the market to the international investment community and an established and well-tested operational framework.
According to S&P statement, the Qatari market has also met the quantitative requirements as defined for Emerging Markets as several large companies have increased their foreign ownership limits to encourage further foreign investment.
Qatar Exchange also introduced the DVP (Delivery Versus Payment) settlement system in 2011 and enhanced it twice in 2012 to ensure full protection of investors’ assets in case of rejection by the seller.
The Peninsula
