Qatar Stock Exchange Holds 10^th Annual Investor Relations Conference in Doha

September 23, 2019

Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) today held the 10^th Annual Investor Relations Conference. The conference was held at the Rotana Hotel in Doha with the participation of a wide range of representatives from leading listed companies, market participants, regulatory bodies and investors. With its continuous efforts to further promote the adoption of international best practice in the field of Investor Relations (IR) amongst its listed companies, QSE decided to hold this event in an interactive type sitting so that all listed companies and the investment community can gain greater exposure to the latest IR strategies and effective practices utilized worldwide.

Mr. Rashid bin Ali Al Mansoori, CEO of Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE), stressed in a speech during the opening of the conference on the importance of investor relations in light of the growing changes. He added that since transparency and effective IR communications are the hallmark of a successful capital market, the development of IR practices would definitely enhance the sustainability of listed companies. As QSE is Qatar's national stock exchange, we seek to support the sustainability of our listed companies in the years and decades ahead, especially in light of the current geopolitical instability in the region. Thus, we are actively working on promoting sound IR practices among our listed companies in order to maintain investor confidence as we consider this a great moment in the history of our country.

Since we are keen to encourage listed companies to adopt best IR practices, QSE has held over the last few years many conferences, forums training programs, the latest of which was the training program held last week and aimed to enable participants to earn an internationally recognized IR certification. In this context, I would also like to highlight QSE IR Excellence Program aimed at rewarding companies and individuals demonstrating the highest investor relations standards in the country on an annual basis, Al-Mansoori elaborated.

Al-Mansoori confirmed that, effective from first of October 2019, Qatar would be introducing a mandatory “rules-based” framework for IR; the Rules reflect best practice and should in any case be standard for listed companies in today’s regulatory capital markets environment. We thank the Qatar Financial Markets Authority for supporting this effort. Mr. Al-Mansoori also acknowledged the Exclusive Partner and expressed his sincere thanks to the sponsoring companies. 

Mr. Abdul Aziz Al-Emadi, Listings Director of Qatar Stock Exchange, said that the IR Annual Conference, the Excellence Program, and frequent training programs reflect QSE desire to achieve best international practice among our listed companies for a transparent investment environment. The issuance of the IR Rules, which will be effective as of 1 October 2019, is a testament to the Exchange’s commitment towards achieving quality investor relations to improve market accessibility and support the development of successful capital markets.

A number of speakers attended the conference from investment companies, financial institutions and major companies listed on the Qatar Exchange. The conference included a number of important topics covering the best international practices in the field of investor relations and highlighting the methods of developing websites dedicated to investor relations.