KUWAIT CITY, June 26 (Xinhua) -- Kuwait welcomed the decision of the global index provider MSCI to upgrade the country to emerging markets status, said Mohammad Al-Osaimi, acting chief executive officer of Boursa Kuwait, national stock market of Kuwait, on Wednesday.
"MSCI's reclassification of Kuwait to emerging markets represents a recognition of the instrumental role Boursa Kuwait played in improving market access and efficiency, enhancing transparency and governance, increasing liquidity and strengthening investor confidence over the last two years," Al-Osaimi said at a press conference held in Kuwait City.
"We have always remained at the forefront of efforts to improve infrastructure, enhance accessibility, simplify processes, and align market practices with global standards, to create and sustain an advanced and robust capital market ecosystem in the country," he noted.
"We remain committed to continue working to explore new avenues to further strengthen our reputation as an attractive investment platform that offers tremendous opportunities to issuers, investors, and other market participants alike," he said.
"This is a result of determined national contributions and distinguished efforts and planning in coordination with market participants in the financial sector," Othman Al-Issa, vice chairman and acting managing director of Kuwait Capital Market Authority (CMA), said.
Al-Issa confirmed that all arrangements necessary for the completion of this decision are being addressed since the CMA, Kuwait Clearing Company's (KCC) and Boursa Kuwait became aware of it.
"We are very confident that it will go into effect in the upcoming period, and no later than November 2019," he noted.
MSCI, the world's top equity indexing provider, said in a statement late on Tuesday that it will upgrade Kuwaiti equities to its main emerging markets index in 2020. Kuwait was previously classified as a frontier market.
