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MSCI upgrades UAE, Qatar to emerging markets
MSCI upgrades UAE, Qatar to emerging markets Muzaffar Rizvi / 12 June 2013 The UAE and Qatar finally elevated to emerging market by the global index compiler MSCI that will boost investor sentiment and attract foreign investment inflows into the region. With this long-awaited MSCI up-gradation, the UAE and Qatari shares are expected to attract approximately one per cent, or up to $500 million, of total global investments in the emerging markets space annually only after the reclassification takes effect in May next year. However, the two Gulf States will see a gradual surge in foreign investment inflows of up to $3 billion over a period of time. An investor monitors electronic stock boards at the Dubai Financial Market in Dubai. KT photo by Rahul Gajjar “The reclassifications of the MSCI Qatar and MSCI UAE Indices will coincide with the May 2014 Semi Annual Index Review while the reclassifications of the MSCI Greece and MSCI Morocco Indices will coincide with the November 2013 Semi Annual Index Review,” MSCI said in its yearly market classification report, posted on its website early Wednesday. Speaking on a conference call, MSCI managing director and global head of index research Remy Briand said Qatar and UAE stock markets would have a greater share in MSCI Emerging Market Index as compared to Greece, which downgraded from developed market. “Qatar and UAE will have a 0.45 per cent and 0.45 weight in the MSCI Emerging Market Index compared to Greece’s 0.3 per cent,” he said. The New York-based Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) currently has its country indices for both UAE and Qatar. In the UAE Index, the developer includes stocks such as Emaar Properties, DP World, ADCB and NBAD, but it is still unclear that all of these shares will be included in the Emerging Market Index. Dubai Financial Market (DFM) was first to welcome the MSCI annual market classification review to upgrade the MSCI UAE Index to emerging markets status. Essa Kazim, managing director and chief executive, Dubai Financial Market, said: “This significant step evidently demonstrates international institutions’ recognition of DFM’s pivotal role over the last three years to further enhance the UAE market infrastructure in collaboration with the Securities and Commodities Authority of UAE (SCA). This development is overdue in light of the market infrastructure improvements made and ticking of all upgrade requirements long time ago.” A media statement by the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) said the DFM is amongst the best performing exchanges globally since the beginning of the year with its market index up by almost 50 per cent to rank amongst the best performing exchanges. The average daily trading value increased 67 per cent to Dh460 million compared to Dh278.2 million in the corresponding period of 2012, the statement said. “We are delighted to see the UAE market upgraded to emerging markets status, which reflects international investors’ confidence in our markets and their satisfaction with what we have accomplished,” Kazim said. MSCI said international institutional investors recognised the improvements made by the UAE regulator and bourses with respect to the delivery versus payment model. “The majority of market participants have expressed no major concerns over the safekeeping of investors’ assets and are starting to move away from the dual account structure,” MSCI said. For Qatar, the index provider said it welcomed the progress made by the authorities to raise the limits on foreign ownership of companies listed on the Doha-based exchange, but added that the current foreign ownership limits were still low by emerging market standards and the Qatari authorities should actively continue to increase them above 25 per cent in order to mitigate potential issues arising from increasing foreign capital inflows, MSCI said. “The MSCI decision to upgrade Qatar and UAE from frontier markets to emerging markets, with effect May 2014, reflects a growing realisation of how far these economies and their financial markets have developed in recent years,” said Sam Vecht, BlackRock’s head of the emerging markets specialist team and portfolio manager of the Frontiers Investment Trust. Equity index provider also said it is closely monitoring the situation in Egypt and in particular the country’s foreign exchange market. “MSCI may be forced to launch a public consultation on a potential exclusion of Egypt from the emerging markets index if the situation to worsen in the coming months.” MSCI further said it would reclassify Morocco and Greece as frontier market and emerging markets, respectively, in a move to lower their markets status. However, it maintained the emerging market status of Korea and Taiwan and will review their potential reclassification to developed markets as part of the 2014 annual market classification review. MSCI also initiating the review of China A-shares for potential inclusion in the MSCI Emerging Market Index. – muzaffarrizvi@khaleejjtimes.com Continue reading
Shaikh Mohammed holds talks with French minister
Shaikh Mohammed holds talks with French minister (Wam) / 12 June 2013 His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, received French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius at his residence in Paris on Tuesday. Shaikh Mohammed and Shaikh Hamdan holding talks with French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius in Paris on Tuesday. — Wam In attendance was Shaikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai. Fabius said the UAE leader’s visit was highly appreciated by the French president and government. He stressed the depth of the historical relations between the UAE and France in various fields. Shaikh Mohammed and the French minister discussed a number of issues of common concern, and ways to develop cooperation in the fields of economy, science, tourism and culture. They also addressed a number of international and Arab issues, especially the Syria strife. Shaikh Mohammed presented the French minister with a copy of his book, My Vision. Shaikh Mohammed is heading a high-profile delegation on a three-day visit to Paris during which he will meet French President Francois Hollande. The delegation accompanying Shaikh Mohammed comprises Shaikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, UAE Foreign Minister Shaikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chairman of the Dubai Civil Aviation and Chief Executive of Emirates airline and Group Shaikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Cabinet Affairs Minister Mohammed Abdullah Al Gergawi, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dr Anwar Mohammed Gergash, Minister of State Reem Ibrahim Al Hashemi, Dubai Ruler’s Court Director-General Mohammed Ibrahim Al Shaibani, Director of Dubai Ruler’s Office Lt. General Musabbah Rashid Al Fattan, Dubai Director of Protocol and Hospitality Khalifa Saeed Suleiman and UAE Ambassador to France Mohammad Meer Abdullah Al Raessi. The delegation also includes members of the National Higher Committee for Dubai Expo 2020, including Chairman of the Board and Executive Director of the Roads and Transport Authority Mattar Al Tayer, Director-General of the Dubai Municipality Hussain Nasser Lootah, Deputy Police Chief of Dubai Major General Khamis Mattar Al Muzainah and Chief Executive Officer of the Dubai World Trade Centre and Director-General of the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing Hilal Saeed Al Marri. Continue reading
KT Impact: Indian mission eases passport rule
KT Impact: Indian mission eases passport rule Sajila Saseendran / 12 June 2013 Married Indian expatriates in the UAE will not be denied 10-year passports even if they do not prove their marriage at the time of passport renewal, the Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi has declared following a Khaleej Times report. The move is expected to benefit many blue-collared Indian workers. The embassy’s announcement on Tuesday came after a KT report on June 2 exposed a rule under which married applicants were forced to settle for short validity passports if they failed to produce a duly attested marriage certificate. Officials were specifically asking for attestation from the home department of the state where applicants’ wedding took place. The report revealed that some applicants started denying their marriage when they were told that they would be issued passports valid for only two years, instead of a full validity of 10 years, due to this rule. Also, several applicants had to pay Dh30 extra to BLS International, the outsourcing agency for Indian passport and visa services, for typing an undertaking to be attached with their application. The undertaking was to assure the authorities the submission of attested marriage certificate by the time of their next passport renewal. After a thorough investigation into the issue, the Indian Ambassador to the UAE, M.K. Lokesh, said that the rule was “enforced by the Indian Consulate in Dubai without consulting the Embassy”. “The consulate [officials] had verbally instructed the BLS staff to implement the rule. They have been told to stop it…We are taking corrective measures,” he said. The ambassador said the consulate had been asked to revert to the old system and not limit the validity of the passports based on applicants’ marital status. “It shouldn’t be the case. We ask for proof of marriage only when applicants wish to endorse the name of their spouse. If they don’t, we leave that [column] blank.” However, when indicated that this paper is in possession of a similar complaint from an applicant in Abu Dhabi, Lokesh said he did not wish to talk about individual cases which may have entirely different background. Nevertheless, the Ambassador said the employees of BLS have been instructed not to ask for any undertaking related to submission of attested marriage certificate. According to sources, several hundreds of applicants have already submitted this undertaking, having paid extra money to the service provider. “There is no such requirement. As per the passport rules, an applicant wishing to endorse the spouse’s name has to produce either a duly attested marriage certificate or a joint affidavit sworn before a court in India. If people cannot get the marriage certificate attested by the home department, they have the option of producing the joint affidavit from the court.” In a statement issued to the media, the Embassy clarified that there has been no change in rules regarding the process of updating marital status in Indian passports. “Applicants can update change in personal information, including marital status after marriage or divorce, if any, in their passports by applying for Inclusion / Deletion of Spouse Name Service along with duly attested copies of Marriage Certificate / Divorce Decree issued by the Indian authorities concerned in centres of BLS International, outsourcing service providers of Indian Embassy / Consulate.” “Applicants, in case choose to update change in their marital status at the time of re-issue of passports after expiry of its validity, can also do it by submitting duly attested copies of Marriage Certificate / Divorce Decree by the Indian authorities concerned along with the application for re-issue of passports.” “In case requisite documentary proof is not enclosed along with application, the re-issued passports will continue to reflect marital status as per entries in the previous passports, notwithstanding change in status of the applicants. However, the above will not have any effect on the validity of thus re-issued passports which is normally 10 years subject to fulfillment of other conditions.” “Indian nationals are advised to endeavour to keep updated personal information, including marital status, in their passports to avoid any inconvenience,” the mission said. The Embassy also provided the link http://www.indembassyuae.org/drupal/MiscellaneousPassport for detailed information on process to apply for Endorsement of Spouse Name. In certain urgent or emergency cases, it said, passports are issued for short validity of six months or more but less than the normal validity of 10 years. “In such cases, the remaining validity of the passport could be granted without payment of additional fee as the fee for 10 years is collected at the time of issue of short validity passport.” Some applicants, who had to settle for short validity passports due to the rule that drew flak, welcomed the decision to abolish it. They said it would ease things for several applicants, mainly the workers who were finding it difficult to produce duly attested marriage certificates. sajila@khaleejtimes.com Continue reading
