BAGHDAD, June 17 (RTRS): Foreign investment in Iraq’s stock exchange has jumped this year as anti-government revolts in the region have made the war-torn nation an more appealing investment alternative, the bourse’s chief executive said.
Foreign investors were net buyers for the first five months of this year, snapping up 84 billion Iraqi dinars ($72 million) worth of shares, Taha A. Abdulsalam said.
He said foreigners had sold $10 million worth of shares since January, having bought $53 million worth of shares in 2010.
“When you see the Arab region now and you see what’s happening, you can see the difference between Iraq and the others,” Abdulsalam told Reuters in an interview on Thursday.

“We have a government, foreign companies are starting to rebuild the country with the Iraqis. Then you see oil companies working ... this is encouraging everyone to invest.”
Iraq is trying to get back on its feet after decades of war and economic isolation and needs investment in virtually every sector as it tries to rebuild.
While the country has not been immune to protests sweeping other parts of the Middle East and Africa, demonstrations in Iraq have centred around demands for better basic services and jobs rather than seeking a change in government.
The Iraq Stock Exchange (ISX), which started operating in 2004 and has 85 listed firms, is one outpost of private investment outside the oil industry in a country dominated by state companies.
Abdulsalam said he expected the number of shares traded for the whole of this year to increase by between 40 and 50 percent.
He said foreign ownership of shares on the bourse had climbed to around 19 percent in 2011 from 3 percent in 2008.

Foreigners — primarily from the United States, Europe, the Gulf and Egypt — were mainly interested in banking, hotel and industrial stocks, he said.
Although bombings and killings remain a daily occurrence more than eight years after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, violence has ebbed from the peak of sectarian warfare in 2006-2007.
Since January, 210 billion shares have been traded with volume equal to $326 million, Abdulsalam said. The exchange traded 255 billion shares in 2010, with volumes equal to $342 million.
“One of the reasons that the price index has increased since the last session of last year until now is due to the demand from foreigners ... They buy four times more than they sell,” Abdulsalam said.
“I’m not saying there’s no risk in Iraq ... but the (security) situation has become better. That kind of risk is acceptable to investors.”
He said there was one new listing in the pipeline, a banking company, which he expected to list within the next two months.
The bourse’s current market capitalisation is $3.2 billion.