BISX Chief Executive Officer Keith Davies recently returned from a business development trip to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Over the course of the week spent in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates, Mr. Davies was able to meet with the Chief Executives of the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, the Dubai Financial Market and Nasdaq Dubai as well as the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and other high level financial institutions.
The BISX CEO was part of a business delegation that visited the UAE with the goal of exploring business opportunities and highlighting to the UAE the business development opportunities in The Bahamas. He said travelling to the UAE provided the opportunity to meet with capital markets professionals who have been exposed to many of the same challenges that BISX has faced over its history. Additionally, he said, the trading systems bear many similarities that helped to immediately establish a common historical bond. *“I had the opportunity to talk with my counterparts about establishing deeper linkages between BISX and their respective exchanges. I am pleased that my new colleagues from Dubai and Abu Dhabi were keen to begin open dialogue about ways in which our exchanges could collaborate internationally and mutually benefit our respective jurisdictions through direct listing and trading. We agreed to continue working towards this goal and BISX has been invited to return to the UAE with the aim of exploring ways of deepening this new relationship.”*
Mr. Davies was also positive on the outlook for BISX both domestically and internationally, stating *“I think that this is an excellent way to set the tone for the year 2014, this trip has given us additional insight into where our international focus can be expanded for 2014. As I have noted previously, one of the priorities of BISX in the near future is growing our mutual fund listing facility and this remains a key focus; however this visit has reminded us of the fact that there are other markets out there where BISX and Bahamian Financial Services providers are not well known but can still make headway and gain traction.”* He concluded, *“The opportunity to speak to this jurisdiction was beneficial to the members of the group obviously, but I believe that in the long term it will be beneficial to our entire jurisdiction.”*
Photo Caption: BISX CEO; Keith Davies and Borse Dubai Executive VP Projects Ali Al-Hashimi