Mr. Salem said he also hopes that liquidity will improve once more companies list. At least three telecom firms are expected to go public this year, though their plans have been delayed, mostly due to concerns about liquidity. The companies—Zain Iraq, a unit of Kuwait-based Zain Group; Asiacell, a unit of Qatar Telecom; and Korek Telecom, in which France Telecom and Kuwaiti logistics company Agility own around 44%—are all expected to list at least 25% of their shares under the terms of licences issued in 2007.
"We need more companies...The next 18-24 months are likely to see a lot more action on this front," said Mr. Taha of Rabee. He said liquidity is a concern but added that the situation is getting better as about six Iraq-specific funds have been set up. Several more are also investing in the market as part of their broader frontier market mandates.
While investing in Iraq's stock market carries risks similar to those associated with any young emerging market—including lack of transparency and bureaucratic hurdles—security remains a big concern, especially among fund managers who visit the country regularly.
Violence is down across Iraq from its peak in 2006 and 2007, but concerns remain as the deadline approaches for the U.S. to withdraw its troops from the country by the end of the year. Some investors, though, are ready to take that risk for now.
"Iraq has continued to stumble along a slow and bumpy path towards improved institutions. But with oil revenues buoyant, and production volumes set to increase, we still think the risk-reward trade-off is acceptable," said Gabriel Sterne, a London-based analyst at investment bank Exotix.
(Source: Bloomberg)
EVERY TRUE...THE IRAQI STOCK MARKET IS THE HIDDEN GEM AMONG THE TURMOIL IN THE US MARKETS... I WILL BE WILLING TO BET THE STORY WILL READ" IN 2010 A 5,000 INVESTMENT WOULD HAVE YEILD YOU JUST OVER 50,000" YEAR 2015!