Pakistan-Turkey: Stock exchanges to organise joint road show in Istanbul

Event meant for Pakistani companies, brokerage houses.

KARACHI: Stock exchanges of Pakistan and Turkey will organise a joint road show in Istanbul in the last quarter of 2015 for Pakistani companies and brokerage houses in order to strengthen economic opportunities between the two countries.

According to a statement released on Monday, a high-level delegation of Borsa Istanbul Anonim Sirketi (BIST) visited Pakistan recently to meet officials of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), Board of Investment Pakistan, KSE’s board of directors, leading brokerage houses and some major Pakistani companies listed on the KSE.

The four-day visit by the Turkish delegation follows a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between BIST and KSE in December 2013. Later on, a technical committee was formed consisting of staff members of both exchanges, which met in Istanbul in November last year to discuss possible cooperation in various areas, like debt securities market, derivative market, SME market, cross listings and data dissemination.

Turkey is the 17th largest economy in the world with a GDP of over $820 billion. Borsa Istanbul has over 420 listed companies with equity market capitalisation in excess of $260 billion and average daily value traded of $1.6 billion in the spot equity market, $14.9 billion in debt market, and $2.1 billion in the futures and options market. In 2013, more than $1.7 billion was raised in equity IPOs.

BIST delegates also signed a data vending agreement with KSE for sale and distribution of KSE’s data by BIST through Eurasia Data Dissemination Network (EDDN). KSE officials and BIST delegates agreed that Pakistani listed companies, due to a dividend yield higher than their Turkish counterparts, can easily raise funds on BIST. Pakistani companies can collaborate with companies listed on BIST in sectors like energy, food and IT, and jointly raise funds on the BIST, the statement said.

It added that Pakistani companies exporting goods and services to various regions can also increase their footprint by listing on BIST.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 28^th,  2015.

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