Experts urge privatization of Arab exchanges and cross-border trading

Arab and international experts on Wednesday called for privatization of exchanges in the Arab world to increase their performance.

At the opening of the Arab Federation of Exchanges Annual Conference 2016 in Jordan, Marwan Batayneh, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Amman Stock Exchange, said it is time for privatization of Arab exchanges and cross-border trading that will help exchanges grow at current difficult regional conditions.

He added that around 70 percent of the exchanges across the world are currently privatized and for-profit and this is the trend. Therefore, it is the time for Arab exchanges to move forward toward privatization.

"Moving ahead toward privatization should be done in line with well-studied and regulated manner," said Batayneh.

Jordan Securities Commission Chief Commissioner Mohammad Hourani said maximum levels of cooperation between exchanges are needed at this stage to overcome challenges.

There are 16 exchanges in the Arab world with variations in sizes of each one, he said, stressing that electronic linkage of these exchanges is a necessity and will help boost investment and trading.

Several topics on challenges facing exchanges in the region and globally as well latest solutions and trends are going to be discussed during the two-day event.

Source: XINHUA