A joint tech-market for Jordan, Bahrain and Dubai could be launched within the next nine months to one year, international experts told Jordanian information technology entrepreneurs at a meeting late Wednesday to set up the Regional IT Board.
A statement issued yesterday by int@j, Jordan's IT professionals' association, said experts of the Capital Market Component of the US-funded AMIR Program expected the future stock exchange to “raise capital for the IT industry, provide easy exit mechanisms and attract more venture capitalists by offering a diverse investor base and more liquidity.”
“In light of the political turbulence currently sweeping the region, Jordan is going to draw increased advantage from being listed on this board since Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates are quite distant from this turmoil and their political steadiness is going to offset the regional instability that is increasingly affecting the Jordanian economy,” the statement said.
“The Regional IT Board will speed up and facilitate the listing process for IT companies by creating a specialized exchange which is tailored for their needs and capabilities,” the statement said, adding that the proposed market would represent “a shortcut on the way for easier listing on the NASDAQ in the future.”
The new IT exchange, to result from the joint efforts of the Amman Stock Exchange, the Bahrain Stock Exchange and the Dubai Financial Market, “may become a forerunner of any number of Middle East economic and financial cooperative institutions seeking market niches and economies of scale,” int@j said. — ( Jordan Times )
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