Boursa Kuwait raises awareness on the importance and benefits of robust ESG reporting

Kuwait, January 22, 2020: Reaffirming its commitment to building a sustainable capital
market for both issuers and investors, Boursa Kuwait recently hosted a seminar in
collaboration with MSCI Inc. to raise awareness of the assessment metrics and benchmarks
of MSCI ESG Ratings. Senior officials of the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) and nearly 250
key executives of listed as well as major companies in Kuwait participated in the workshop
held at JW Marriott Hotel -Kuwait City, on 22 January.
The seminar shed light on various factors companies should take into consideration when
integrating environmental, social and governance (ESG) information into their sustainability
reporting. MSCI ESG Ratings evaluates ESG risks and opportunities for investors based on 10
different themes across the three ESG pillars, such as climate change, natural resources,
pollution and waste, human capital, product liability, and corporate governance.
Commenting on the seminar, Mohammad Al-Osaimi, CEO of Boursa Kuwait, said,
“Companies that have excelled in ESG pillars have consistently outperformed their peers with
no established ESG metrics. Over the years, the Kuwaiti capital market has evolved into an
attractive investment destination for both local and foreign investors. With the country’s
inclusion in the emerging market indices of MSCI, S&P Dow Jones Indices and FTSE Russell,
issuers are promised large capital investment inflows. In order to capitalize on these
prospects, however, companies are naturally required to comply with their ESG policies and
meet the increasing demand for transparent and effective sustainability reporting from
22 January 2020 BOURSA KUWAIT
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investors. Sound disclosure on ESG requirements will help businesses to enhance their
performance and increase competitiveness, thereby improving their appeal to long-term
institutional investors.”
Robert Ansari, Head of the Middle East for MSCI, adds, “Institutional investors in the Middle
East are increasingly demanding high-quality ESG ratings, metrics and insight to inform their
investment decisions. Driving this trend is investors’ need to identify ESG risks and
opportunities as they start to integrate ESG into their portfolio construction and asset
allocation process.”
Boursa Kuwait has rolled out a number of initiatives as part of its Corporate Sustainability
strategy. The “Education” pillar envisions a robust capital market ecosystem, where all
stakeholders are fully equipped with the knowledge and skills required to be an active player
in the national exchange and capital market, while the Community pillar embodies the
company’s commitment to giving back to the community including its own employees.
Although Boursa Kuwait does not operate in an environmentally sensitive business, it is still
committed, through its “Environment” pillar, to minimizing the adverse effect of its
operations and collaborating with environmentally conscious organizations to contribute to
the environmental well-being of Kuwait.
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