JEDDAH: More than 50 companies are waiting to be listed on the Tadawul, according to the chairman of the Capital Market Authority. Speaking at the Financial Sector Conference on Monday, Mohammed Al-Kuwaiz said he expected to have over 30 listed by the end of the year. “If we look at the numbers today we have over 50 files that are either offering or listing either in the primary market or the Tadawul market,” he said. “Our expectation is obviously this is subject to market norms and the readiness of these businesses but we imagine that we will end the year with over 30 listed,” he added. Saudi Arabia is implementing a huge program to modernize and develop its financial sector under the country’s Vision 2030 plan. Under this program, the CMA had a target to list 20 new companies in 2021 on the Saudi index through public offerings, and the authority had achieved half of this target by the end of the first half of the year. Interests from companies to sell shares to the public increased over the past few years with the introduction of the parallel market, known as Nomu. The main market, Tadawul, targets larger and more mature companies with the ability and willingness to bear big loads in terms of disclosure data, governance, while smaller companies prefer to list on Nomu.