Romania is an interesting market for investors, as Bucharest is a solid financial and industrial hub, and Sibiu has one of the major futures markets in the region, said John Prestbo, chief executive of the Dow Jones Indexes.

Wall-Street: How did you find the proposal to team up from Sibiu Stock exchange that operates in an East-European emerging market?

John Prestbo: Emerging markets are in still in favor with investors. Especially countries like Romania, which is certainly one of the more attractive European markets, considering its growth rates and rapid development is attracting foreign investment.

Bucharest is one of the largest financial and industrial centers in the region with SIBEX being the leading futures exchange in Eastern Europe. Our cooperation has been an interesting and promising experience for us.

Wall-Street: The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures performed very well on SIBEX market since it was launched in January this year. Were you surprised to see that the Dow Jones Industrial Average could be successfully traded by the Romanian investor community?

John Prestbo: We are pleased, but not surprised. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is the most widely known stock market index globally. Whenever investors around the world follow the U.S. stock market they usually look at the performance of The Dow. However, the success of a financial product – even one based on a popular index -- very much depends on the skills of the product issuer. It seems that SIBEX has worked very hard to make the futures contract successful.

Wall-Street: What will spark Romanian investors’ interest for Dow Jones futures?

John Prestbo: The Dow Jones Industrial Average measures the performance of the U.S. stock market. It has only 30 stocks but it very effectively represents the daily movements of the world’s biggest stock