In a move which will help to attract additional foreign investment to the Qatar Stock Exchange, MSCI announced that inclusion of three listed companies in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index upon its recent review, which will take effect May 28th 2019.
The Qatari companies which will be added to the MSCI Emerging Markets Index (Large and Mid-Cap) are Mesaieed Petrochemical (MPHC) and Qatar Fuel (QFLS). The current QSE companies included in this index are Qatar National Bank (QNBK), Industries Qatar (IQCD), Qatar Islamic Bank (QIBK), Masraf Al Rayan (MARK), Ooredoo (ORDS), Qatar Electricity & Water Company (QEWS), Commercial Bank of Qatar (CBQK), Barwa Real Estate (BRES), and Qatar Insurance (QATI).Qatar Aluminum Manufacturing Company (QAMC) will enter MSCI EM Small Cap Index effective at the close of May 28th.
The current QSE companies included in MSCI EM Small-Cap Index are the Gulf International Services Company (GISS), Gulf Warehousing (GWCS), Medicare Group (MCGS), Al Meera Consumer Goods Company (MERS), Mazaya Qatar (MRDS), Qatar First Bank (QFBQ), Qatar Industrial Manufacturing (QIMD), Qatar National Cement (QNCD), United Development Company (UDCD), and Vodafone Qatar (VFQS).Mr. Rashid bin Ali Al-Mansoori, CEO of Qatar Stock Exchange, described this announcement as a positive step and added that: "We are proud of the performance of Qatari listed companies as evidenced by the inclusion of various Qatari companies in the MSCI EM index. This development would enhance liquidity in the market and contribute to the flow of medium-and long-term foreign investments." Mr. Al-Mansoori hoped that this development will open the door to the flow of investments of global portfolios to invest in the shares of Qatari companies, especially in view of the fact that these foreign investment portfolios seek to invest in the Qatari market, which is characterized for being safe and stable investment environment.
Qatar is one of the 24 countries classified as Emerging Markets by MSCI. In the MSCI Emerging market classification there are 3 segments: Large-, Mid- and small-cap companies. The first two segments are defined as Standard segment as captured by the well-known MSCI Emerging Markets Index that covers approximately 85% of the free float-adjusted market capitalization in each of the 24 countries.