The participants at a recent workshop on 20 years of development of the stock market in HCM City all said that Vietnam’s stock market has been growing beyond their expectations. About 700 companies have listed their shares on the official bourse and 320 companies have shares traded on UpCom. 

 

By November 15, the total market capitalization value had reached $75.61 billion, or 37.8 percent of GDP. It is expected that the figure would be 70 percent of GDP by 2020.

 

Nguyen Ba Duong, president of Coteccons, said Coteccons has benefited greatly since it entered the stock market. The enterprise, which had initial charter capital of VND15.2 billion and revenue of VND250 billion a year in the past, now has charter capital of VND250 billion and revenue of VND20 trillion.

 

Vietnam’s securities will attract capital flow from international financiers once its stock market is upgraded from frontier to emerging, experts say.

Tran Van Dung, chair of the HCM City Stock Exchange (HOSE), said a survey conducted by HOSE and Stoxplus found that 83 percent of surveyed funds said they would expand investments in Vietnam once the stock market is upgraded, while 50 percent said they would invest more than $10 million in Vietnam.

 

The survey was conducted on 115 investments, of which 75 funds manage total assets of $2.4 trillion. At least $10.8 billion has been allocated for the Vietnamese market.

 

Dominic Scriven, CEO of Dragon Capital, believes that once they area upgraded, the Vietnamese stock market will be more attractive. Foreign investors, especially large funds, want to pour money into Vietnam, but they can only make small investment deals now. 

 

Le Thi Le Hang, CEO of SSI Asset Management Company (SSIAM), commented that while foreign investors appreciate the investment opportunities in Vietnam, they are worried about the quality of businesses. SSIAM is looking for businesses which not only have great potential, but also plan for sustainable development and a transparent governance apparatus.

 

According to SSI’s president Nguyen Duy Hung, foreign investors now have high confidence about the potential of Vietnam, so Vietnamese businesses now have great opportunities to attract capital. To catch investors’ attention, businesses need to improve management and develop human resources.

 

President of the State Securities Commission (SSC) Vu Bang said SSC has done better in managing and supervising the stock market to ensure transparency and legality. 

 

In other countries, violators are sanctioned heavily or forced to go bankrupt. In Vietnam, the punishments are not stiff enough to deter violators. 

 

SSC has encountered difficulties when accessing violators’ emails and bank accounts. However, the laws are being amended to become stricter.