(MENAFN- The Peninsula) deepak john |
The Peninsula
Qatar has ranked fourth among the 'Arab World's Top Five Financial Centers' for 2022, according to September's Global Financial Centers Index 32, noted November 2022 issue of Forbes Middle East.
Financial centers are gateways to global markets.“Qatar's capital city made the most leaps among these five centers, climbing eight places globally. This could be the result of government reforms in recent years, including permitting up to 100 percent foreign ownership of businesses in most sectors,” stated the November issue of the magazine.
It added that Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) recorded a 16 percent jump in new finance companies operating at the centre in the first half (H1) of 2022, with over 1,500 registered firms in total.
The half-year growth record also affirms QFC's continued efforts to increase investment flow into the country and diversify the economy. A total of 48 countries were represented by the firms registered with the QFC from January 1 to June 30, 2022 mainly from the Middle East, Asia and Europe. They operate in different sectors, including media, sports, real estate, retail, logistics, health, education, and energy, besides digital and finance.
The Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) was valued at $195.1bn as of October 18, 2022. In April, QSE and the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) teamed up to launch a new trading system that would equip the bourse with the same technology used by LSEG and enable it to offer derivatives trading in the future.
Dubai held the top spot in the region and is ahead of other major European hubs, including Frankfurt, Amsterdam, and Geneva. It is home to the Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC), a financial hub founded in 2004 and governed by private laws and an independent judicial system.
Abu Dhabi ranked second and despite dropping one place globally, the UAE capital has remained one of the region's top financial centers. The Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) attracted several global companies to the capital in 2022, including virtual asset exchanges Kraken and Binance, as well as trading platform eToro. Followed by Morocco's Casablanca that is Africa's leading financial center ranked third and Bahrain ranked fifth in the list of top five Arab financial centers for 2022.
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