As the Vietnamese stock market shows signs of recovery, new strategies are needed to attract more financial investment, said Alain Cany, co-chairman of the Viet Nam-EU Business Forum, speaking at a meeting held by the European Chamber of Commerce and the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry in HCM City yesterday. An effective investor relations (IR) strategy involves integration of finance, communication, marketing and securities law compliance, which improves communication between a company, the financial community and other constituencies.

Vu Huu Dien, portfolio management director of Dragon Capital said local companies should set up an investor relations department and a page devoted to IR strategies on their websites. Foreign language competence among staff should also be enhanced, he said. Tom Chong, partner of Ernst&Young Viet Nam, said Vietnamese companies must identify appropriate human resources to manage IR.

A senior person with good communication skills and sound working knowledge in corporate strategic planning, financial management and legal and compliance matters must be designated head of IR.Companies must adapt to the changing business environment, and create new strategies if necessary, which would allow stakeholders to gain an insight of the quality of the management of the company, Chong said. News, whether good or bad, about the company must be made public and communicated in a direct, clear way, he added.

Annual reports and requisite announcements were necessary to communicate the company’s ambitions, prospects and strategies. Nguyen Trung Thang, chairman of MassoGroup, said if a public company failed to disclose information to the capital market or was ineffective in such disclosure, it would be difficult for them to optimise stock prices.