Taiwan Stock Exchange ( TWSE ) chairman and CEO Sherman Lin led a delegation to the United Arab Emirates from May 4 to 10 to expand engagement with Middle Eastern markets and showcase Taiwan’s capital market strengths.

The delegation met with local exchanges, sovereign wealth funds, asset managers and custodian banks, the TWSE notes, culminating in the signing of a memorandum of understanding ( MoU ) with the Dubai Financial Market stock exchange.

The MoU focuses on cross-border product listings, joint market promotion and information exchange. Discussions also covered potential dual-listed exchange-traded funds ( ETFs ) and co-developed financial products.

“The Middle East is strategically important to Taiwan’s capital market internationalization,” Lin states. “We aim to foster deeper cooperation and broader investor engagement.”

The TWSE also held follow-up meetings with the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange ( ADX ), building on a cooperation MoU signed in 2007. A visit to ADX last October, the TWSE notes, extended dialogue on cross-border ETF listings and other collaborative opportunities.

During the May visit, Lin speaking at the Dubai Exchange’s Capital Market Summit 2025, addressed the regulatory challenges surrounding cross-border capital movement, its potential benefits and the TWSE’s ongoing efforts to facilitate cross-market initiatives, while underscoring how Taiwan and Middle Eastern markets are highly complementary.

“Cross-border financial products and capital engagement offer long-term, mutually beneficial opportunities for both sides,” Lin emphasizes, adding that ETF cross-listings have emerged as an effective model, with a Taiwan-Japan product collaboration expected to launch later this year.

In addition to meeting the region’s two major stock exchanges, the delegation met with over a dozen local financial institutions and sovereign wealth funds to promote Taiwan’s market, with Lin highlighting Taiwan’s central role in the global artificial intelligence supply chain, with its semiconductor sector driving a surge in market cap and trading volume in 2024.

Taiwan’s resilience during global equity sell-offs in April 2025 was also noted by Lin, who emphasized that while most markets declined due to renewed tariff concerns, Taiwan’s benchmark index was among the first to rebound – demonstrating its market resilience and investor confidence. Lin also welcomed input from foreign investors on improving Taiwan’s market mechanisms.

Foreign investors, the TWSE notes, hold over 40% of outstanding shares and contribute more than 30% of daily trading. Despite global volatility in 2025, the TWSE index has gained 20% since early April, with average daily turnover exceeding NT$300 billion ( US$9.8 billion ).