Eurasia Capital, a Hong Kong-based investment bank, and MonBiz Media have launched the MonBiz Hong Kong Index, which includes Mongolia-related companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Mongolia possesses world class resources in copper, coal, gold, uranium and other key commodities.

In recent months, a number of Hong Kong based companies have made acquisitions of resource companies and projects in Mongolia. This trend is strongly in line with Eurasia Capital's view that Hong Kong-listed companies see lucrative opportunities in Mongolia to capitalise on the growing demand for commodities in neighbouring China, the largest consumer of Mongolia's mineral resources.

The MonBiz Hong Kong Index will track the share price performance of Hong Kong-listed companies with assets and operations in Mongolia. The index is market capitalisation-based and aims to become a leading benchmark for Hong Kong-listed companies with growing activities in Mongolia.

For a listed company to become a member of the index it must be listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, have minimum market capitalization of HKD250m and a minimum of 33 per cent of the company's market value must be derived from assets and operations in Mongolia.

"Our firm is pleased to launch the MonBiz Hong Kond Index," says Alisher Ali, chairman of Eurasia Capital. "Hong Kong is becoming an important source of capital for resource companies in Mongolia. We expect that Mongolian companies from the private sector alone would raise at least USD3bn through IPOs and equity capital raising in Hong Kong in the next three years."