Thomson Reuters celebrates 150 years in the Middle East

The office was in Alexandria, in 1865 a port of call en route to India and an important marketing centre for Egyptian cotton.

The telegraph enabled Reuters to report the latest financial information and news, transforming markets, economies and the political landscape.

The Alexandria office remained a centre for news until 1879 when Reuters moved to Cairo.

“For 150 years we have been a trusted voice in the Middle East, providing unbiased news to the world,” said Nadim Najjar, Thomson Reuters managing director for the Middle East and North Africa. “Today we continue to do so, while also partnering with customers to share information and insight with them, helping to grow industry and commerce through our solutions and actionable intelligence.

“We are proud and honoured to have been a part of the history of this region for 150 years, and we look forward to being a part of its continued transformation into the future,” he added.  

Guests included Heba Al Sairafi representing the executive chairman of The Egyptian Exchange, members of the Egyptian parliament, and official from the Ministry of Economy and the Egyptian Central Bank. 

Al Sairafi spoke about the importance of partnering with data providers to spread best practice and promote transparency. She pointed out that Thomson Reuters had had a significant and historic role in Egypt by providing reliable and trusted data that helped the Exchange enhance transparency levels. 

She added: “When technology married up with finance, FinTech arose to provide on the go services. The term FinTech is very common nowadays though it is a very wide sector with a long history. In fact the past 65 years paint a picture of continued innovation and evolution. FinTech developments have always played a very important role in stock markets during these past decades, where more sophisticated data analysis, treasury management and trade processing were created making up a multibillion industry aimed at supporting the needs of the financial services sector.” ■