The Amman Stock Exchange (ASE), represented by the CEO of the ASE, Mazen Wathaifi, participated in the eighth session of the “World Investment Forum 2023” organized by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), which was held in Abu Dhabi / United Arab Emirates during the period 16-20/10/2023. This global event was held under the slogan “Investing in Sustainable Development,” with the participation of more than 7,000 government officials, decision makers, business leaders and investment experts from more than 160 countries, to discuss the most prominent challenges and issues related to sustainability, and how to employ available resources to facilitate the transition towards a more sustainable economy, especially in developing countries.
Wathaifi participated as a speaker in three sessions during the Forum in the special discussions of the United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative (UN SSE), which ASE joined in March 2016 with the aim of enhancing transparency and achieving commitment for listed companies to issues of social and environmental responsibility and corporate governance. At the first session, which was held under the title “UN SSE Global Dialogue,” which brought together around 30 CEOs exchanges , regulatory bodies in the stock market and the heads of a number of international committees and bodies specialized in setting standards in financial markets, Wathaifi spoke about the importance of the pivotal role played by stock exchanges, financial markets and financial institutions in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their role in providing investors with information related to sustainability in listed companies, which has become important information for investors, especially institutional investors and investment funds. He also referred to the steps taken by the ASE in this regard, as the twenty biggest companies listed on the ASE, as a first step, have provided, as of this year 2023, their annual sustainability reports in light of new ASE amended listing directives to obliging the twenty biggest companies to do so, in addition to addressing the most prominent challenges that facing financial markets and ways to develop them.
Wathaifi also participated in the dialogue session on “Disclosure Standards for Climate reporting,” explaining the steps taken by the ASE in this field, as the ASE signed a joint agreement with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), one of the institutions of the World Bank Group, under which the IFC provides support and training to the ASE staff and listed companies. In order to enhance their knowledge and awareness and enable them to be aware of all issues and matters related to the disclosure of the actions taken by companies to confront the challenge of climate change and the preparation of reports on these actions, in addition to supporting the development and launch of the climate disclosure guide with the ASE to serve as a guide for implementation by listed companies. The ASE is the first in the region and the fifth in the world to launch such an initiative.
Organized by the Regional Center for Sustainable Finance (RCSF), the Arab Federation of Capital Markets (AFCM), and the United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchanges (UN SSE) Initiative, Wathaifi participated in the roundtable on “Sustainable Finance for Arab Capital Markets” where he highlighted the role of financial markets in promoting sustainable finance in general and the role of Arab stock exchanges in encouraging the issuance of sustainable finance products such as green bonds, social bonds, and sustainability bonds, where he stressed that regulators and stock exchanges have an increasingly important role in accelerating and intensifying the measures and investments necessary for a sustainable, low-carbon future and an economy capable of adapting to the climate. He also talked about the latest efforts undertaken by international institutions in this context and their role in issuing standards and principles related to climate change disclosure.
It is worth mentioning that the importance of this forum comes as a platform to discuss existing challenges and ways to confront them while ensuring the achievement of a sustainable future based on a common vision that drives development and progress in all countries of the world by directing investment towards sustainable projects in the most vital sectors such as renewable energy, health care sector, development smart infrastructure and innovation of advanced technical solutions to the challenges facing developing countries in order to build a knowledge-based global economy.