Venue in DIFC will be centre for thought leadership and television news reporting

Market Site will strengthen communication between region's financial ecosystem and rest of the world

UAE-Dubai, 10 April 2017

Nasdaq Dubai, the region’s international stock exchange, today announced it will create a premier platform for capital market, economic, and business thought leadership. Named ‘Market Site’, the venue at the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) will feature an attractive and technologically advanced event space for corporate functions and seminars as well as broadcasting studio facilities. 

Scheduled to launch in Q1 2018, Market Site will facilitate in-depth reporting of financial and business news across the MEASA region through collaboration between Nasdaq Dubai and international and regional television broadcasting companies. This cooperation will encourage enhanced media coverage of the region’s capital markets and economic landscape.  

Market Site will also host market-opening bell-ringing events attracting global visibility from a state of the art arena, where senior executives can celebrate IPOs and other listings, and individuals and organisations can take centre stage to make key announcements and share their respective news with the world.

In addition, seminars, roundtables and educational forums held at Market Site by Nasdaq Dubai and other organisations will provide dynamic thought leadership in topics of interest to the financial and business community in the MEASA region and beyond, including Islamic finance, asset class innovation and ways of strengthening global business and financial links.

Hamed Ali, Chief Executive Officer of Nasdaq Dubai, said: “As the region’s financial markets expand rapidly in size and sophistication, Market Site will meet a growing need for a premier facility for thought leadership, events and information as well as providing visibility for issuers. The DIFC is the leading financial markets hub of the region, making it the ideal venue for the Nasdaq Dubai Market Site as a platform that broadcasts business and financial news as well as hosting discussions and seminars on the economy, financial services, and the wider business arena.”

Market Site is a timely and welcome addition to DIFC’s offering, giving over 1,600 active registered companies and 21,600 professionals in the Centre, as well as numerous external visitors, the chance to take advantage of a state-of-the-art venue.

DIFC has played an integral role in shaping the financial services landscape, not just in the UAE but in the wider Middle East, Africa and South Asia region, a market that is worth US$7.4 trillion. Market Site will enable the Centre to further enhance its reputation as a stable, innovative platform for financial firms to access high-growth emerging markets in the region and a major gateway for growth across the South-South corridor.

Arif Amiri, Chief Executive Officer of DIFC Authority, said: “This is an exciting development for Nasdaq Dubai and its market participants, and one that we are delighted to host within DIFC’s existing infrastructure. The new Market Site venue will provide state of the art facilities to help the financial community and beyond share and exchange knowledge.

“Bringing financial players together is central to DIFC's strategy and our mission to be a leading catalyst for regional economic growth. We are pleased that Nasdaq Dubai is so actively pursuing the same goal. Market Site is a welcome addition as DIFC moves forward in delivering our 2024 Strategy."

Nasdaq Dubai has been based in the Dubai International Financial Centre since the exchange opened in 2005.  Its listed companies include international as well as regional businesses, with a global as well as regional investor base. The exchange’s unique regional initiatives include an equity futures market, opened in September 2016.

Market Site and all other Nasdaq Dubai operations will be located inside ‘The Exchange’ building, currently under construction in DIFC.

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About Nasdaq Dubai 
Nasdaq Dubai is the international financial exchange serving the region between Western Europe and East Asia. It welcomes regional as well as global issuers that seek regional and international investment. The exchange currently lists shares, derivatives, Sukuk (Islamic bonds), conventional bonds and Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITS).

The majority shareholder of Nasdaq Dubai is Dubai Financial Market with a two-thirds stake. Borse Dubai owns one third of the shares. The regulator of Nasdaq Dubai is the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA). Nasdaq Dubai is located in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC).

About Dubai International Financial Centre
The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) is the financial hub for the Middle East, Africa and South Asia, providing a world-class platform connecting the region’s markets with the economies of Europe, Asia and the Americas. It also facilitates the growth in South-South trade and investment. An onshore, international financial centre, DIFC provides a stable, mature and secure base for financial institutions to develop their wholesale businesses.

The Centre offers all the elements found in the world’s most successful financial industry ecosystems, including an independent regulator, an independent judicial system with a common-law framework, a global financial exchange, inspiring architecture, powerful, enabling support services and a vibrant business community. The infrastructure within the district features ultra-modern office space, retail outlets, cafes and restaurants, art galleries, residential apartments, public green areas and hotels.

Located midway between the global financial centres of New York, London in the West and Singapore, Hong Kong in the East, DIFC (GMT +4) fills a vital time-zone gap with a workday that bridges the market and business hours of financial centres in both Asia and North America.

In 2015, DIFC launched its 2024 growth strategy, a blueprint for the next decade of growth of the financial hub. This strategy aims to stimulate trade and investment flows along the South-South economic corridor encompassing Africa, Southern Asia and Latin America.

Currently, 1,648 active registered companies operate from the Centre, with a combined workforce of 21,611 professionals.

DIFC continues to pursue expansion into new services and sectors within the Middle East, Africa and South Asia region, an area comprising over 72 countries with an approximate population of 3 billion and nominal GDP of US$7.4 trillion.

For further information, please visit our website: difc.ae, or follow us on Twitter @DIFC.

For media enquiries, please contact:
Hajar Al Ketbi
Dubai International Financial Centre Authority
Vice President - Corporate Communications & Public Relations
Tel: +971 4 362 2440
Email:    Hajar.AlKetbi@difc.ae

Magdalena Stepien
APCO Worldwide
Senior Account Director
Tel: +971 56 1142948
Email: mstepien@apcoworldwide.com

© Press Release 2017