Boursa Kuwait, a private entity managing the Kuwait Stock Exchange's operations, said it has signed a MoU with the Middle East Investor Relation Association (Meira) in line with its strategy to progressively develop the stock market and promote IR best practice in Kuwait.

Meira is a non-profit organisation that aims to promote investor relations best practice throughout the Middle East.

Through this partnership, Boursa Kuwait will be playing a leading role in the support of the ‘Meira Kuwait Chapter’ in an effort to raise the standards of the investor relations role by rolling out specialized awareness and training programs, remarked Khaled AlKhaled, Boursa Kuwait vice chairman and CEO, after signing the agreement with Alex MacDonald-Vitale, the chairman of Meira, at Boursa Kuwait headquarters.

“Developing the exchange scene in Kuwait requires extensive work on many different levels. One primary level is engaging with our stakeholders with the persistent and consistent transparent approach, which we have adopted since the start,” he stated.

“This has allowed us to establish positive relations with them that in turn has and will continue to support the evolvement of Boursa Kuwait into the leading exchange we seek to create,” he added.

Commenting on its role in reinforcing effective investor relations, MacDonald-Vitale said: "The MoU further strengthens the existing platform of collaboration between Meira and Boursa Kuwait, at a time when continued improvement in standards of best practice is of critical importance to the market’s development."

"At Meira, we look forward to supporting Boursa Kuwait’s efforts to develop the Kuwait financial market," he noted.

Following the signing of the agreement, Meira plans to host a training session on Investor Relations from April 29 to 30 in Kuwait, which is open to public.

The objectives of Meira are to foster a culture of effective communication between listed companies, exchanges, regulators, advisers and the buy and sell side communities in the Middle East, and to promote transparency in the market, stated MacDonald-Vitale.

It also plays an essential role in the governance framework which must be adhered to in terms of listed companies and licensed individuals, he added.

Al Khaled pointed out that Boursa Kuwait aims to partner with organizations and entities that share the same interests and objectives, in order to ensure a valuable outcome and a mutually beneficial partnership.

"In line with this agreement, we aim to further establish and deploy best practices with regards to the existing investor relations activities and framework, and indeed leverage the knowhow and competence of market experts, such as Meira," he added.-TradeArabia News Service