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The Indian Business and Professional Group (IBPG) hosted H.E. Rashed Abdul Kareem Al Blooshi, Chief Executive, Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) and Dr. Michael Bolliger, Head Asset Allocation – Emerging Markets, UBS on September 13 2017 at Hotel Dusit Thani.
The theme of the event was ‘Investment Opportunities in Emerging Markets’.
Dr B R Shetty, Chairman, IBPG welcomed the Speakers and the attendees and mentioned that Emerging Markets including Africa provide a great opportunity for making profitable investments in Business Projects.
Rashed Abdul Kareem Al Blooshi, Chief Guest for the event, said that he was glad to be invited at the event and commended the Indian community for playing an active role in the development of the UAE.
Al Blooshi stated that ADX has around 17 thousand Indian investors. He went on to add that Indian investors in ADX are among the most active investors in the Exchange with a total trading value (buy + sell) that reached more than AED 1 billion in 2016, which is an increase of 25% compared to their total trading value in 2015. Whereas their market value of shares reached AED 284 million by end of 2016.
ADX Chief Executive delivered a presentation which highlighted investment opportunities in ADX. He mentioned that ADX was the first stock exchange in the MENA region to utilize Blockchain technology in its services through e-Voting for listed companies Annual General Meetings (AGM) He also informed the audience that ADX has 961,000 registered investors, of which 40% are foreign nationals. The market capitalization of the Exchange by end of H1- 2017 reached AED 455 billion, and cash dividend distributed by ADX listed companies reached AED 22 billion for the year 2016. Al Blooshi also stated that ADX’s dividend yield stood at around 5.8% which is one of the highest in the world.
Dr. Bolliger provided a macro overlook on the global investment opportunities, including the Emerging Markets. He mentioned that he does not see any signs of stress in the current future in the investment climate. He said that lot of value can be found investing in Emerging Markets. Yields will increase but in a slow and gradual manner. He estimated that oil price in the next year will range between USD 55-60/bbl. He said that India is a very strong growth story and it will be responsible for 15% of global growth in the next 5 years, as compared to US contributing just 10%. On Africa, he commented that half of the world’s fastest growing economies are in Africa. He estimated that Rupee will hover around 64 against the dollar and Gold may see $1250/oz in six months’ time.
There was a very good interactive session between the Speakers and the attendees after the speeches. The event was attended by over 100 attendees and included representatives from Irish Business Council and Iraqi Business Council. The speakers were given a special token of appreciation from IBPG.
The IBPG was established more than 25 years ago and is one of active business groups among the 37 registered business groups in Abu Dhabi. The Vision of IBPG is ‘To create a progressive bilateral trade platform between India and the UAE and encourage inclusive commercial partnerships that will inspire entrepreneurship, networking, globalisation, and innovation & job creation.’
