CMA eyes building attractive environment for local, global investors: El-Kuwaiz

Mohammed El-Kuwaiz, Chairman of CMA

Mohammed El-Kuwaiz, Chairman of the Capital Market Authority (CMA), said that the authority aspires to continue building an attractive environment for local and international investors.

The value of foreign investors' ownership in the Saudi market increased by more than 150% by the end of Q2 2021 compared to 2018-end, CMA said in a statement.

Banking, basic materials, energy, and telecommunications sectors were the most important for foreign investment.

The authority pointed out that its efforts had a significant impact by increasing foreign cash flows in the Saudi market, encouraging foreign investors to contribute positively to the market, and paving the way for them to invest and save through their ownership of listed securities. This contributed to raising the attractiveness and efficiency of the market to foreign investors.

The entry of foreign investors aims to deepen the capital market by increasing liquidity levels, motivate Saudi-listed companies to raise the level of disclosure, in addition to activating the role of the investor relations department, contributing to increased coverage by local analysts in global think tanks, and increasing the chances of business growth of licensed persons with the entry of a new segment of investors to the Saudi market.

The ownership value of foreign investors of all categories in the Saudi market reached SAR 288 billion last week, according to data compiled in Argaam.