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Business / Qatar Business

QSE holds seminar on promoting sustainability and ESG disclosure among Qatari listed firms

Published: 04 Dec 2019 - 12:08 am | Last Updated: 01 Nov 2021 - 10:08 am
Hussein M Al Abdullah (fourth right), QSE Marketing and Communication Director with FTSE Russell CEO Waqas Samad (third right) and senior market experts and officials on the sidelines of  the seminar  in Doha, Monday.

Hussein M Al Abdullah (fourth right), QSE Marketing and Communication Director with FTSE Russell CEO Waqas Samad (third right) and senior market experts and officials on the sidelines of the seminar in Doha, Monday.

The Peninsula

DOHA: Qatar Stock Exchange, in cooperation with FTSE Russell and Qatar Financial Centre, held a senior level sustainability and ESG engagement session, titled QSE & FTSE Russell Smart Sustainability Forum, with the aim to promote the business case for ESG and sustainability, outline QSE’s sustainability action plan to attract responsible investors, provide an overview of global investor assessment approaches to ESG, and serve as the soft launch for the QSE Sustainability and ESG Dashboard.

The participants discussed various topics in relation with integration and implementation practices of ESG factors in an asset allocation framework and investment strategy. The participating speakers and panelists also discussed how does sustainability add to performance in investment portfolios; and why should listed companies care about reporting on their ESG performance and climate change strategy; and how can FTSE Russell and QSE help listed companies meet the new demands of investors; and what can regulators and exchanges do to capitalize on this new investment trend and attract global liquidity.

Commenting on the event, Hussein M. Al Abdullah, QSE Marketing and Communication Director, said that this event is centered on the subject of smart sustainability, which combines traditional smart factors such as Value, Quality, Momentum, Low Volatility and Size with sustainability parameters such as ESG practices and climate change to achieve investment performance.

Al Abdullah highlighted QSE support of sustainability: “Qatar Stock Exchange strongly supports the ambitions of reaching a well-informed investment environment and believe that by undertaking this engagement session, we will promote the sustainability agenda among our investors, listed companies and the business community within the State of Qatar and thus contribute to the realisation of the human, economic, social and environmental pillars of Qatar National Vision 2030.” “Investors worldwide are increasingly incorporating sustainability factors into their investment decisions, and we are convinced that companies that effectively communicate their sustainability strategies will improve their capital raising abilities and have an overall competitive advantage”, Al-Abdullah added.

Qatar Stock Exchange has made great strides in the field of transition to sustainable Stock Exchange through the promotion of the best disclosure, investor relations and ESG practices among the market stakeholders.