The Armenia Securities Exchange (AMX) and Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) signed a Memorandum of Understanding aimed at establishing effective cooperative relations and strengthening strategic partnership.

Following the signing ceremony, Hayk Yeganyan, CEO of the Armenia Securities Exchange, said that this is the first step toward deepening cooperation with Middle East countries.

“The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange is one of the largest markets in the Middle East. In addition, it also has an interesting platform called Tabadul. The brokers of member exchanges have the opportunity to trade with the instruments available in other exchanges. Thus, Armenian brokers will no longer need to travel to different countries, open investment accounts, but will see the investment instruments available in other exchanges, making part of Tabadul.”

Hayk Yeganyan pointed out that the platform also offers wide opportunities in terms of attracting investments:

“Investment instruments on our stock exchange, in particular, government bonds, are becoming more visible and accessible to the Middle East investors. This is a step toward opening the “door” for foreign investors. We should also remember that it is not easy to bring them to the local financial market. There are many legal and technical issues, which we are trying to settle and resolve.”

Abdulla Salem Alnuaimi, Group CEO of the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, expressed hope that the AMX will join Tabadul in the near future.

“I am happy to sign this memorandum. It creates new opportunities of cooperation, in particular, in terms of discussing the possibility of AMX joining the Tabadul platform. Stock exchanges of six countries have already joined the initiative, the number of member investors has reached 3,8 million. Currently, the number of companies listed in Tabadul exceeds 270. The platform also supports companies that want to go public, so, 3 million 800 thousand investors who have joined Tabadul get access to their securities,” said Abdulla Salem Alnuaimi, adding:

“We see great potential for cooperation. I am convinced that we will soon witness the signing of an agreement with the Armenian Securities Exchange within the framework of the initiatives I mentioned.”

With the signing of the memorandum, the parties also agreed to expand cooperation in infrastructure and technology sectors.

AMX believes that with this partnership, Armenia and particularly AMX, can become a connecting bridge between the dynamic markets of the Middle East and Europe.

“The Middle East is one of the richest regions. Years ago, we took a step toward expanding the cooperation with the European Union. Now we are trying to attract investors from the Middle East. Thus, Armenia can become a connecting bridge between the parties,” said Hayk Yeganyan.

It should be noted that in May, within the framework of the AIM Congress (Annual Investment Meeting) in Abu Dhabi, the representatives of the Armenia Securities Exchange were invited to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, where they learned about ADX operations, possibilities of the trading platform and exchanged experience.

The conference was followed by various discussions and meetings aimed at exchanging experience between the experts of two exchanges, which laid the foundation for the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding.

ADX is the second largest market in the Arab region. It is part of ADQ, Abu Dhabi Developmental Holding Company, one of the largest holding companies in the region with a broad portfolio of major enterprises spanning key sectors of Abu Dhabi’s diversified economy.

Yana Shakhramanyan
Photos: Emin Aristakesyan