DFM to focus on attracting private sector entities, says CEO

The Dubai Financial Market (DFM) will focus on attracting more private sector entities to list on the local bourse as the government has already announced to list 10 entities.

“Focus of the DFM is to maintain its attention on the private sector because the government pipeline will continue to come into the market. It is important for us to maintain our relationship to help companies benefit from IPOs,” said Hamed Ali, chief executive officer of Dubai Financial Market and Nasdaq Dubai.

While speaking on the second day of the inaugural edition of the Mena IPO Summit in Dubai, he said to help companies grow their topline as part of the Dubai Economic Agenda 'D33', the market needs to play a role in light of that where the economic substance of these companies through DFM and Nasdaq Dubai ends up growing on the market.

He added that they’re going the extra mile to support companies in transforming and helping to come to the market.

In 2021, Dubai announced to list 10 public entities on the local bourse to boost market capitalisation to Dh3 trillion. Some of them were listed on the DFM last year while the remaining will go public in due course. The IPOs saw strong demand and were heavily oversubscribed.

Ali added that the emirate’s bourses attracted six listings in terms of equity and 31 fixed-income entities last year.

He further added that the emirate has done phenomenally well in terms of GDP and population growth as well as foreign direct investment projects.

“When you have an economy which is doing so well, its effects trickle down to capital markets,” he said, adding that the emirate boasts the highest private sector concentration and highest private wealth.

— waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com

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