The Shanghai Stock Exchange is planning to open an exchange venue in Abu Dhabi in advance of the Belt and Road initiative, China’s ambitious global development strategy.
The exchange has entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) to cooperate on establishing a Belt and Road Exchange, designed to be an investment and financing centre for MENA-based issuers and investors.
It has been estimated that the Belt and Road project, which aims to restore old trading links between China and other states in Europe and Asia, will require $900 billion a year of infrastructure investments over the next decade, the majority of it likely to be issued via debt instruments.
According to both the ADGM and the Shanghai exchange, the Belt and Road Exchange will serve as an international capital-raising platform supporting Chinese enterprises, foreign companies and global organisations to finance their investments.
“We will work closely with our partner to better serve the ever-increasing capital and investment needs of both markets and our respective pools of international industry participants,” said Richard Teng, chief executive of the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of ADGM.
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