Saudi Tadawul rates HKEX highly, saying it has ‘learned a lot’ from the Hong Kong bourse operator
- ‘When we look at reforms and changes in Saudi Arabia, at the top of the list when it comes to benchmarking is the HKEX,’ Tadawul Group’s Nayef Al-Athel says
- Collaborations between Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia have increased since Chief Executive John Lee visited Riyadh in February 2023
The Saudi stock exchange will weigh its reforms against the likes of the Hong Kong stock exchange as it bids to become a leading global capital market, according to a top executive of bourse operator Saudi Tadawul Group.
“When we look at reforms and changes in Saudi Arabia, at the top of the list when it comes to benchmarking is HKEX [Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing] and the experiences they’ve been through,” said Nayef Al-Athel, the chief sales and marketing officer at Tadawul Group.
Al-Athel, a frequent visitor to the city, said Tadawul had “learned a lot” from the Hong Kong bourse operator. He said he particularly admires the exchange’s book-building framework for initial public offerings and its regulations on secondary offerings.
The Tadawul Group wants the Middle East’s largest bourse, where market capitalisation has risen 11 per cent over the past three years, to improve its status as a leading global financial hub. The kingdom is also seeking to open up its stock market to more foreign ownership as part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s plan to diversify the economy away from oil under the Vision 2030 strategy.
“We as a capital market group have ambitions to connect East to West. And for us to do so we need the right partners. We think the Hong Kong exchange is definitely the right partner for us to execute that strategy,” Al-Athel said.