Middle East Investor Relations Society established amid rapid development of regional capital markets

The ME-IR Society aims to support the further development and practice of investor relations (IR) across the Middle East, in line with the rapid growth of the region's capital markets and increasing demand from both regional and global investors for greater disclosure and transparency.

The announcement comes following the conclusion of the first meeting of the Society's Board of Directors, which was hosted by the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), and the appointment of Arif Amiri, Senior Director, Investor Relations and Corporate Governance, Emaar Properties, as Chairman.

The board members of the Society include a number of the region's most senior executives, investor relations professionals and other capital markets participants. They are:

- Arif Amiri - Senior Director - Investor Relations and Corporate Governance, Emaar Properties
- Federico Salinas - Partner, Dewey and LeBoeuf
- Mark Shuttleworth - CFO, du - Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company
- Peter Barker-Homek - CEO, TAQA - Abu Dhabi National Energy Company
- Manish Wadhwani - Managing Director, Millennium Finance Corporation
- Jonathan Minor - Head of Investor Relations and Treasury, Investcorp Bank
- Noor Sweid - Managing Director Strategy and Investor Relations, Depa
- Basil Moftah - Managing Director Middle-East Africa, Thomson Reuters

The ME-IR Society will be the first of its kind in the region and will serve as a unique platform for IR professionals. Its main objective will be to promote and develop the IR profession by creating a solid networking platform for regional practitioners, and a forum for sharing and promoting of IR profession. The Society, its members and partners will aim to organize an annual conference once in a year to discuss developments in the field and reward best practice.

Commenting on the announcement, Michael Chojnacki and Alex Ménage, founders of the ME-IR Society, from the Bank of New York Mellon and Thomson Reuters, respectively, said:

"We are delighted about the launch of the ME-IR Society. This is a very exciting period of growth for the Middle East capital markets and the development of the investor relations practice amongst regional companies will contribute greatly to the attraction of an even greater number of high quality regional and international investors."

Arif Amiri, first elected chairman of the ME-IR Society commented "Investors are seeking enhanced levels of transparency and disclosure and the ME-IR Society will aim to ensure that regional companies have access to necessary tools, resources and a network of local and international experts who can support them in their efforts to adopt and implement best practices."

The ME-IR Society, which aims to become fully operational in the fourth quarter of 2008, will operate as an independent, not-for-profit organisation with membership open to all IR, financial communications, and capital markets professionals throughout the Middle East region. The society will be looking to recruit a General Manager during the summer.