QSE Promotes Sustainability among Qatari Listed Companies

October 06, 2019

Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) held today at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel a forum on promoting sustainability practices and environmental governance in Qatar's investment environment. The forum was held in collaboration with MSCI, one of the world's leading investment management institutions. The Forum brought together a group of leading experts in an attempt to support listed companies in their efforts to attract investors and develop institutional performance through the issuance of sustainability reports.

The forum is in support of QSE's efforts to support listed companies in the field of social, environmental and corporate governance (ESG), following the issuance of the QSE Guidelines on ESG Reporting in 2016.

On this occasion, Mr. Rashid bin Ali Al-Mansoori, Chief Executive Officer of Qatar Exchange, expressed his encouragement and support for the sustainability of the Stock Exchange, and mentioned in his opening remarks, the speech of His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar, at the 2019 UN Climate Action Summit, where His Highness stressed Qatar's commitment to sustainable development and the fight against climate change, as environmental considerations are one of the four pillars of the Qatar National Vision.

Mr. Al-Mansoori said that the Forum's activities contribute to the promotion of sustainability practices among investors, listed companies and the business community in Qatar. He stressed QSE's keenness to apply the principles of sustainable development in the midst of its role in serving the national economy and the local community, and its participation in the realization of economic, social, human and environmental objectives of the Qatar National Vision 2030.

Mr. Al-Mansoori added that investors around the world are focusing more than ever on sustainability in their investment decisions. We are confident that companies that are effective in communicating and deploying their sustainability strategies will be better able to attract foreign capital and investment, and thus contribute to their competitiveness.

Mr. Al-Mansoori participated as a member of the Board of Directors of the World Federation of Exchanges and a representative of QSE at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Exchanges held in New York on the sidelines of the meetings of the United Nations General Assembly and the Climate Action Summit. The event attracted a large number of exchanges and financial institutions who celebrated the tenth anniversary of the launch of the United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchange Initiative (SSE), established in 2009 by the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the United Nations Trade and Development Organization (UNICTAD)

Given the growing interest among investors in sustainability, and the fact that QSE’s listed companies cover a broad cross-section of the Qatari economy and as the key to achieving sustainable development responsibilities, QE joined the United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchange Initiative in 2016 to promote sustainability as a national and humanitarian responsibility. As part of this initiative, the Qatar Exchange (QE) recently issued a guide containing guidelines for the issuance of sustainability reports to encourage listed Qatari companies to report on their sustainability criteria.