The Ljubljana bourse also confirmed to join SEE Link, together with BELEX.
The See Link trading platform was launched during the Summit by EBRD's President, Sir Suma Chakrabarti, and is expected to be completely functional by the end of March. Moreover, there is a plan to enlist blue chip Index See LinkX, which is designed to help increase local market visibility, empower local capital markets as well as encourage local currency trading in order to reduce the dependence on external financial resources while supporting local growth.
This project was conceptualized by the Bulgarian, Croatian and Macedonian bourses, with the purpose of creating a regional infrastructure for trading securities which are listed on these markets. Regionalization of this project will help capital market integration, which will ensure a better position for both investors and local brokers, while securing the independence of each market involved. This cooperation was formally finalized in May 2014, in Skopje.
It is expected that within the first few days after its opening, eight members from the Bulgarian bourse, ten members from the Croatian bourse and ten members from the Macedonian bourse will join. After the Belgrade bourse has been completely immersed in this project, involvement from a select group of Serbian investors will be expected, which will allow them better trading conditions in regional capital markets, and make these local capital markets more interesting for foreign investors.
The EBRD President highlighted that “the SEE Link project is a firm example of regional integration. EBRD is committed to this process and that is why we supported it from the beginning. Fast growth of this platform is a testimony of its success.”
Impact on investors: The rationale behind BELEX involvement in the SEE Link platform is to highlight potential investment and business opportunities in the local market and promote the inflow of foreign direct investment and cross border projects, allowing the Serbian capital market to become an integral part of regional economic growth.