LONDON/DUBAI, 28 September 2005— Dow Jones Newswires, the world’s leading independent provider of real-time financial and business news, and Middle East financial information group, ABQ Zawya, yesterday announced that they have agreed in principle to jointly produce a new regional news service covering the Middle East’s financial markets.
The new service, according to a company release, will be included in a new subscription product being developed for Zawya’s premium business and financial portal, www.zawya.com to be launched before the end of the year. Targeted at the high-end professional investment community, the regional newswire will initially be produced in English. Dow Jones Newswires and ABQ Zawya are also exploring the potential for an Arabic language service.
While detailed market research conducted by the two companies among Zawya’s clients will shape the new service, its main focus will be on public and private companies and state-owned enterprises joining the region’s stock markets, as well as merger and acquisition activities.
“The Middle East’s financial markets are evolving rapidly and entering an extremely exciting new phase with the launch of the Dubai International Financial Exchange this week. These developments create an even greater demand for independent and reliable financial news,” said Michael Bergmeijer, vice president and managing director, International, Dow Jones Newswires.
“Together with ABQ Zawya, we aim to create a comprehensive real-time regional news service which we believe will offer financial professionals a valuable tool for their investment decisions.”
“This is going to be a unique news service in that we will try harder to understand the inside stories moving the markets and ultimately bring about greater transparency and disclosure. Simply put, we are raising the bar,” said Ihsan Jawad, chief executive officer and managing director of ABQ Zawya LLC.