Vietnam Stock Exchange Still Sees Slow Development in 2005

Vietnam securities exchange has witnessed a lot of important events in 2005, according to the Ho Chi Minh City Securities Trading Centre (HSTC). The most important events include the Government's Decision No. 528/2005/QQÄTTg on approving list of companies to register, list or sell their State-owned stake to the public, Decision No. 189/2005/QQÄTTg on establishing an independent custodian centre, and Decision No. 238/2005/QQÐTTG on raising foreign ownership in listed companies.

 

Through the promulgation of key decisions, together with attempts to build the Law on Securities by the State Securities Commission (SSC), this year has marked the stable and synchronous development in the initial stage of the Vietnam stock market.

 

In comparison with the previous years, 2005 has seen remarkable advances. This is a motive to fuel many joint stock companies to list on the bourse.

 

As of December 2005, Vietnam has attracted 28,300 transaction accounts registering at the securities companies, including 362 foreigner accounts.

 

The number of foreign investors participating in transactions surged much higher than in past years. Information has been updated timely on the securities trading centres, newspapers, and public media. Bond auctions have also grown strongly with total bidding of VND2.16 trillion in 32 sessions. Securities companies have actively participated in self-trading activities, especially the REPO service.

 

However, Tran Dac Sinh, director of the Ho Chi Minh City Securities Trading Centre, said that the market has developed slower than expected. The stock market still has a very small scale, shortage of commodities and low quality. The number of transaction accounts remained small, the supervision and information announcement system lacks capability. Meanwhile, financial intermediaries have played a insignificant role in foster the development of the securities market.