Region's capital markets come under spotlight

Taking place on November 20 - 21 at Dubai's Emirates Towers Hotel, this year's event will gather together the largest number of senior-level regional and international executives to discuss and debate the exciting future of this area of finance.

International keynote speakers include Martin Graham, Director of Market Services and Head of AIM at the London Stock Exchange, Robert Gray, Chairman, Debt Finance & Advisory at HSBC Bank, Aril Seren, Secretary General of the Federation of Euro-Asian Stock Exchanges and Charlotte Crosswell, Head of NASDAQ International.

Henry Azzam, Chairman of Dubai's DIFX will give a keynote address explaining the Emirate's plans to become a new global time-zone and outlining progress made so far in achieving this aim. Azzam, who is also founder and CEO of Amwal Invest brings an immense amount of knowledge of the Middle East's economies.

The Gulf region continues to grab headlines with up to half the value of certain regional indices being wiped off since the beginning of 2006. The current period of correction is being fuelled by uncertainty and an ever increasing interconnectivity between the region's exchanges and those working on them.

The year ahead also sees the launch of dozens of high-profile IPOs in Riyadh, Dubai, Doha and Bahrain, leading to buoyant primary market.

Edmund O'Sullivan, Conference Chairman and Editorial Director of MEED said,

"Middle East capital markets will be among the fastest-growing in terms of turnover and market capitalisation in the next decade due to rapid growth, particularly in the oil-exporting economies of the Gulf. Recent instability is probably a good thing in the long run since it will encourage more institutional investment, more transparency and more effective regulation. The rewards for discerning investors that are patient could be considerable."

Middle East Capital Markets 2006 is being held at the prestigious Emirates Towers Hotel, Dubai on November 20 and 21. Already confirmed as gold sponsors are Commercialbank, Dubai Bank, Fitch Ratings, Kamco, QNB and SHUAA Capital. Other sponsors include Victory Heights and Global Investment House.