Singapore Exchange (S68.SG) and Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. (NDAQ) Friday extended their collaboration to allow dual listing for initial public offerings, helping companies tap into Asia’s rapid economic growth and robust appetite for equity issues.

The partnership comes as an increasing number of global companies are seeking to raise their brand profile by listing in Asia, which is tipped to grow 8% in 2010 by the International Monetary Fund. At the same time, companies from China and India among other Asian countries are seeking to widen their investor base as they target global customers.

 

“The listing cooperation includes offering a cross listing opportunity to currently listed companies on both the Nasdaq Stock Market and SGX as well as dual listing opportunities for new IPOs. This initiative allows better price discovery and trading opportunities in the Asian and U.S. time zones,” the two exchanges said in a joint statement.

 

Sales teams from the two exchanges will Monday start approaching companies that might be interested in launching their IPOs on both markets, Nasdaq Chief Executive Robert Greifeld said, adding that the partnership would help issuers reach a broader market.

 

“In the U.S., the interest in access to Asian markets is pervasive. Markets have been lagging behind investors and corporate managements on how they operate” on a global level, Greifeld said. “It’s about having the markets work for global companies.”

 

The two exchanges expect to get their first dual-listing client by next year, Magnus Bocker, the chief executive of Singapore Exchange, said at a press briefing after the start of trading of 19 American depository receipts from Asia-based companies, all of them from China, including search engine Baidu.com Inc. (K3SD.SG).

 

Singapore Exchange and Nasdaq have collaborated to launch the 19 ADRs on GlobalQuote, a new board on which they will offer price quotes of international securities.

 

The Singapore Exchange plans to add more ADRs from Asia-based companies and will target companies from Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Indonesia and India to allow investors to trade in more companies not currently available during the Asian trading day.

 

The partnership will help Singapore Exchange expand its business and become a global player. It will also help increase volumes, Bocker said, but declined to give a target.

 

“The partnership with Nasdaq OMX will bring a wider selection of investment choices to our investors and offer companies access to an enlarged pool of investors,” said Bocker, who was previously the president of Nasdaq before joining Singapore Exchange in December.

 

The 19 ADRs that started trading earlier remained thinly traded in a market that was flat at 3,160.16 points at 0203 GMT.