Saleh Fareed Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — Prince Fahd Bin Muqrin Bin Abdul Aziz stressed that opening the stock market to foreign investments will enhance the transparency and quality of the local market during his opening speech at the official inauguration of the first Saudi exhibition in finance and stock market on Sunday night at Hilton Jeddah. He noted that the Kingdom's efforts to improve the business environment have drawn the attention of foreign investments and added value to the national economy. He pointed out that the Saudi economy is witnessing unprecedented jumps due to the reforms that the authorities are implementing. He added the Kingdom has enhanced its role being the largest economy in the Arab region which led the way for itself to be among the G20 countries. The growth in the Saudi economy during the past years and the government's spending on the infrastructure projects, as well as the investment projects initiated are all indicators of the strength of the Saudi economy, added Prince Fahd. Moreover, he said opening the market to foreign investments “is a positive move which will enhance quality and transparency, especially if the selected companies are strong financially and have international experiences.” The prince toured the exhibition and was briefed about companies participating and the nature of their businesses. Muhammad Al-Shihri, Chairman of Kingdom International Group, organizer of the event, said the exhibition comes to test the market prior to the entrance of foreign investments toward to middle of this year. He added that opening the market to foreign investments is a move that they have been waiting for "since a long time." The move, he noted, comes also as part of the Kingdom's role in enhancing the market and protecting it. The exhibition also highlights the challenges in the Saudi market, mainly the absence of transparency and absence of knowledge about the changes in the market. “The Saudi stock market went through tremendous changes over the past 15 years. The market has jumped to 22,000 points in 2006 after suffering from low number of investors in previous years. However, the jump was followed by an aggressive hit in the same year of 2006, the market lately is recovering slowly during the last two years,” Al-Shihri said. He said the government has set number of reform steps that will protect the market from sudden drops and stressed that they are "looking for more reform steps that will comfort small Saudi investors." Dia Al-Hariri, director of the exhibition, said the event aims at studying the positive and negative effects of opening the market to foreign investors mid of this year. He added the gathering “also addresses the financial performance of companies as well as the challenges facing the sector.” The exhibition aims to guide investors on how to protect their finances and develop them, warning investors from buying and selling based on false information.
