Boursa Kuwait caps off 2021 with five prestigious awards

The awards celebrate the company’s outstanding contributions to the Kuwaiti capital market, marked investor relations performance, and remarkable support to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Boursa Kuwait was also voted the sustainable stock exchange of the year in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena), in addition to being honoured for its endeavours to cultivate a culture of learning in the organisation.

The awards reflect Boursa Kuwait’s commitment to operational excellence and its role in developing a strong and efficient financial market with liquidity and transparency that effectively brings together issuers and investors enabling them to seize investment opportunities and capture high returns on investment.

 

Throughout the past year, the company continued to strive to create a robust capital market that sets new benchmarks in the region and is attractive to investors worldwide.

Boursa Kuwait’s Chief Executive Officer Mohammad Saud Al-Osaimi said: “Boursa Kuwait continues to blaze a path towards a progressive operation, responsible for driving engagement, growth and innovation in the Kuwaiti capital market in an effort to transform it into a world-class, attractive investment destination for international investors. The awards we won this year are a confirmation of our efforts, evidence of the progressive milestones we have achieved. The awards will also motivate us to aspire to even more accomplishments in the future. We look forward to providing market participants and those interested in listing even more investment products and solutions to further develop the market and elevate its status.”

 

Sustainable Stock Exchange of the Year – Mena 2021: Boursa Kuwait was chosen for the Sustainable Stock Exchange of the Year award in the Middle East and North Africa by Pan Finance Magazine, a print and online journal providing worldwide intelligence on finance, economics, and global commerce.

The Pan Finance team announced the nomination on their website, commending Boursa Kuwait’s commitment to corporate sustainability for itself and the Kuwaiti capital market. It is worth noting that the company published an ESG disclosure that aims to support listed companies to report on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) issues, and to meet the growing needs of various stakeholders, including investors, customers, suppliers, and regulators for transparent and regular information.

The guide includes recommended sustainability metrics and a set of indicators that assist market participants understand where they currently stand as well as how to improve and set future goals.

Furthermore, the recommended sustainability metrics include indicators that are simultaneously corresponding with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), and the pillars of Kuwait’s 2035 Vision.

 

Armed with its ESG readiness and its well-thought-out Corporate Sustainability strategy, Boursa Kuwait has remained at the forefront of the efforts to promote environmentally conscious business practices in Kuwait’s capital market, which has been witnessing growth in the adoption of Corporate Sustainability and an increasing inclination towards sustainable and climate-integrated investments.

Boursa Kuwait aims to build on its success in sustainability in the coming years and plans to publish its first ESG report in 2022, highlighting the company’s accomplishments in Corporate Sustainability as well as outlining its strategy for ESG reporting and implementation.

 

Outstanding Contribution to Capital Market Development – Kuwait 2021: Boursa Kuwait was chosen by Global Business Outlook Magazine for its ‘Outstanding Contribution to Capital Market Development’ award in 2021. Global Business Outlook Awards seek to recognise and reward excellence in businesses around the world and are designed to facilitate the outstanding work of businesses and business leaders across industries.

In 2021, Boursa Kuwait continued its role as the crown jewel of development in the capital market apparatus, facilitating the listing of three companies into its Main Market and introducing Tradable Rights Issues, which are tradable or waivable Securities that grant its owner priority to subscribe in an Issuer’s share capital increase pro rata to the number of Securities he owns in the Issuer’s share capital.

The company intends to build on this success and continue on its strategy to create an attractive investment environment. It has implemented many steps to keep pace with international practices and standards, forging ahead towards a bright future in which Kuwait is a regional and global investment destination.

 

Best Investor Relations Company - Kuwait 2021: Boursa Kuwait was chosen for the ‘Best Investor Relations Company’ award by Global Banking & Finance Review, a leading online and print magazine for informative and independent news within the financial community.

Since their inception in 2011, the Global Banking and Finance Review Awards reflect the innovation, achievement, strategy, progressive and inspirational changes taking place within the global financial community and were created to recognise companies which are prominent in particular areas of expertise and excellence within the financial world.

As an organisation that strives to advance a sustainable capital markets ecosystem in Kuwait, Boursa Kuwait has long recognised the importance of the IR function to establish and maintain meaningful relationships between the various capital market participants, which include listed companies, institutional investors, private investors, analysts, and the general public.

The company has undertaken several initiatives to raise awareness of the many benefits of a robust IR function among businesses in Kuwait and has intensified efforts to promote IR practices in response to the growth of the issuer and depth of investor base that came as a result of its extensive market developments and plans.

 

Best Culture of Learning 2021: Boursa Kuwait was chosen for the ‘Best Culture of Learning’ award for employers below 500 employees within the Middle East Region 2021 by LinkedIn, the world's largest professional network with nearly 800 million members in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide.

In line with its commitment to continue to develop the knowledge and skills of its workforce despite the unique circumstances of this year, Boursa Kuwait continued its partnership with LinkedIn Learning in 2021 to provide access to a wide range of virtual training programmes.

All Boursa Kuwait employees were assigned specific training programmes, based on their unique job profile and technical competences, which were tracked towards their training KPI. In total, 2707 hours of training was conducted through this innovative learning channel during the year.

The company intends to build on this success by continuing to leverage LinkedIn Learning to enhance the knowledge, skills and competencies of its workforce moving forward, making an investment in its greatest asset: its people.

 

Second Place in the Best Annual Report – Print Category for Small Cap Companies – Middle East 2021: Boursa Kuwait’s 2020 Annual Report was voted second best annual report in the print category for Small Cap Companies in the Middle East by the Middle East Investor Relations Association (Meira), an independent, non-profit organisation dedicated to promoting the Investor Relations (IR) profession and international standards in corporate governance whose mission is to enhance the reputation, efficiency, and attractiveness of the Middle East capital markets.

Boursa Kuwait’s ongoing partnership with Meira seeks to promote IR best practices and international standards in corporate governance in the Kuwaiti capital market.-- TradeArabia News Service