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Mr. Rashid bin Ali Al-Mansoori, CEO of Qatar Stock Exchange, stated that the exchange has proved its ability to counter the repercussions of the current blockade and highlighted the investment attractiveness of QSE based on strong macro and micro economic fundamentals. Al-Mansoori described Qatar Stock Exchange as the largest Emerging Market in the region and the second largest market in the GCC in terms of market capitalization.
In an interview with Qatar Television, Al-Mansoori said that since the attempts to impose the blockade, some Saudi and Emirati portfolios have tried to distract the market in the first two days of the crisis by offering large quantities of shares for sale. However, these attempts have failed and the market has corrected itself since local investors as well as American and British portfolios have entered the market with a buy and consequentially the average daily trading value has increased from QR 250 million to 450 million per day.
Al-Mansoori added that QSE has currently received more than 140 investor applications from new foreign investment portfolios wishing to enter the Qatar Stock Exchange and that the market has also witnessed great interest from Qatari investors and businessmen who entered the market to buy during the crisis.
In response to a question on the size of the GCC portfolios investing in the Qatari market, Al-Mansoori pointed out that the size of the portfolios belonging to the blockade countries does not exceed 6 billion riyals compared to the large market capitalization of QSE exceeding 500 billion Qatari riyals. He pointed out that Qatar Stock Exchange is the only market in which GCC nationals enjoy the same privileges enjoyed by Qatari citizens under the directives of HH the Emir.
In response to a question about the impact of the GCC portfolios exiting the market, Al-Mansoori said that the Qatar Stock Exchange is open to all GCC investors wishing to enjoy investment privileges based on the strong fundamentals of the Qatar economy, the robustness of the listed companies and the high rates of dividends. However, the exit of these portfolios would not have any significant impact on the Qatari market, given their small percentage of the market and the readiness of other local and international portfolios to enter the market in a bullish trend considering the buying opportunities.
In the light of the blockade, we do not need any counter actions. We are well prepared and enjoying advanced infrastructure, fair and orderly market, healthy IR and transparency practices, and robust regulatory framework combined with a clear long-term strategy (5 year business plan). This strategy is mainly based on the development of the IPO market through listing more companies in order to enhance liquidity in the market, as well as the diversification of investment instruments and innovative services, Al-Mansoori concluded.
