On July 29, 2020 Middle East North Africa Financial Network, Inc (MENAFN) – Gulf Times reported that “(t)he Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) is developing a sustainability benchmark index for the listed companies as the country has promising potential to be a niche ESG (environment social governance) market in the region.
‘We are working with market participants to develop a sustainability and ESG benchmark index for the QSE listed companies,’ according to Mohsin Mujtaba, director (Product and Market Development), the QSE.
A joint report by the Qatar Financial Center (QFC) and Refinitiv found that the sustainable or ESG investment is burgeoning, with a market valued at $30.7tn in 2018 and expected to surge in years ahead.
‘The $31tn sustainable/ ESG investment market presents Qatar with an opportunity to establish a niche market in the region,’ it said.
Despite this growth, sustainable investments remain a niche segment in the Gulf Cooperation Council and the Middle East and North Africa regions, ‘offering Qatar a prime opportunity to establish itself as a destination for sustainable investments, which would attract both issuers and investors to its capital markets,’ it said.
The mandatory ESG reporting requirement for listed companies in Qatar serves as a stepping stone towards this objective, the report said.”
You can read the article on the MENAFN internet site.