Dubai International Financial Centre Hosts Seventh Knowledge Series Seminar

Event Discusses the Outlook for Capital Markets in the MENASA Region

The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) today hosted a seminar to discuss the outlook for capital markets in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia (MENASA) region.

Titled ‘MENASA Capital Markets’, the event is part of the Knowledge Series, a regular series of seminars organised by DIFC to raise awareness about industry trends as well as the regulations, infrastructure and business support services offered by the financial district. Speakers at the event included officials from the DIFC Authority, the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) and leading financial institutions and legal firms in DIFC.

Abdulla Mohammed Al Awar, CEO of the DIFC Authority said: “Emerging markets in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia have demonstrated their resilience to the impact of the global financial crisis. Today, capital markets in many countries in the region are outperforming those in developed countries. DIFC’s seventh Knowledge Series seminar provided a forum to discuss the current state of the region’s capital markets and their prospects for the coming years.”

A key focus of the seminar was the region’s debt markets, which have seen a strong resurgence following the crisis. Driven by the commitment of governments to infrastructure projects, counter-cyclical fiscal policies as well as the development of public debt management, debt markets have shown increased activity in the past year. The role of the debt market, including Islamic bonds or Sukuk, in financing infrastructure, development projects and budgets; increasing capital mobility; deepening financial markets; and supporting financial market integration were a major topic of discussion.