Oman’s Capital Market Authority (CMA) plans to learn about capital market development from Taiwan’s GRETAI Securities Market (GTSM, 櫃檯買賣中心), GTSM said yesterday.
Meanwhile, GTSM is likely to introduce Oman’s sovereign funds to the local market after forging cooperative ties with the CMA, it said.
GTSM operates the local over-the-counter market, the emerging stock market and the incubation market, serving as the major platform to nurture small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the nation.
WILLING TO LEARN
Capital Market Authority vice president Mohammed Saeed al-Abri and John Spencer, manager of the CMA’s new business development division, said during a visit to GTSM on Wednesday that they are willing to learn from Taiwan’s capital market.
GTSM chairman Wu Sou-shan (吳壽山) said Oman is one of the booming economies in the Middle East, with SMEs becoming a large driver of the country’s growth.
In a bid to increase the development of SMEs in Oman, the CMA wants to work with GTSM and broaden its business exchanges with Taiwan, Wu said.
He said the CMA and GTSM are scheduled to start discussions in April on the possibility of the local exchange sharing its expertise and experience with Oman, particularly in the areas of operating an emerging stock market and incubation market.
SUCCESSFUL MARKET
In particular, the CMA hopes to learn how to set up a successful emerging stock market that would help SMEs raise funds and grow in Oman, Wu said.
Under Taiwan’s securities listing rules, a company has to be listed on the emerging stock market for no less than six months before it can list on the OTC market or the main board.
In addition to setting up a channel for business exchanges with the CMA, GTSM is also considering listing Oman’s sovereign funds, Wu said.
The introduction of such funds to Taiwan would help invigorate the local equity market, he said.
The top two sovereign funds in Oman — the State General Reserve Fund and the Oman Investment Fund — are worth US$8.2 billion and US$6 billion respectively, Wu said.
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