Kuwait Bourse.. Achievements in line with Vision 2035, future state

By Mohammad Kamal KUWAIT, Dec 27 (KUNA) -- Boursa Kuwait's achievements in 2018 were numerous and in line with the State Vision 2035 mainly focusing on turning the country into a regional and possibly global center for commerce and finance.
The bourse embarked this year on a path, which prioritized international standards of operations aimed at attracting foreign capitals and investments.
One of the chief highlights was the Standard and Poor's (S&P) rating, which affirmed Kuwait's (AA/A-1+) long and short-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings, with stable economic outlook.
Boursa Kuwait was also upgraded to an "emerging" market, starting from September 23, 2019, according to the Financial Times Stock Exchange (FTSE) Russell and S&P's indices.
Also amongst the achievements was the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) intention to include the Kuwait Index in its 2019 Annual Market Classification Review for a potential reclassification from Frontier Markets to Emerging Markets status.
Locally, the Boursa Kuwait had reclassified its indices to include three major indices: the Main Market Index, the Premier Index, and the All Share Index to emulate the stock exchange process at global markets.
The new classification aims at bolstering transparency as well as increasing liquidity and the number of shares traded.
Boursa Kuwait also launched the Over the Counter Market (OTC) back in November.
The fresh market aims to create a transparent environment by bringing buyers and sellers together using fully supervised mechanisms. The trading platform will adopt the clearing and settlement procedures.
The bourse included this year the family companies market and institutions of individual nature as an additional step to diversify the market.
On the topic of privatizing Boursa Kuwait, the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) announced recently the adjustment of rules and regulations concerning the bidding of 44 percent of the capital shares of the market.
Continuing on the achievements of the market in 2018, Boursa Kuwait gained the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) membership and also attained the membership in other organizations in Europe and Asia.
The list of achievements by Boursa Kuwait had pushed business personnel such as Mohammad Al-Naqi, Chairman of Kuwait Industries Company Holding, to say that the economic atmosphere in the country had developed vastly thanks to the positive happenings at the bourse.
The government significantly played its part in seeking investments abroad thanks to the efforts of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah who embarked on a historic visit to China recently to attract investments and opportunities from the world second largest economies.
Salah Al-Sultan, an advisor at Arzaq Capital Holding, also commented on the achievements, saying that in 2019, the bourse should expected more foreign investments coming to Kuwait if same policies continued.
Similarly, Mutadwuloo (traders) Society Mohammad Al-Tarrah affirmed that small-time investors and traders hugely benefited from the new policies at Boursa Kuwait.
Boursa Kuwait had built a reputation in 2018, which will hopefully continue to grow in the upcoming years, said Al-Tarrah. (end) mka.gta