Vietnamese Stock Market Seeking More Foreign Investors

Tokyo, Japan (AHN) - Vietnamese authorities say further international investment will help boost its rising stock market. Now, the Vietnamese Economics Research Institute, Vietnamese Embassy and Mitsubishi Strategic Research Institute are holding a workshop on Vietnam's securities market for the first time in Tokyo, Japan.

Vietnam's stock market earns around $3 million daily from transactions among 200 members, and its listed shares total $23 billion USD. However, while over 240,000 Vietnamese traders use the market, only 7,200 investors are foreigners.

According to Vietnamese daily Nhan Dan, the Vietnam bourse is expected to grow to $100 billion in 2010. Following the recovery of Vietnam's capital market from an August slump, the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) last week said it will allocate 2 percent of its total investment capital in the market.

HSBC attributed the recovery of Vietnam's stock market to an improvement in global investment climate, identifying the 900 point threshold of its index as the best one to attract the highest number of share prices and high outlook by foreigners on initial public offerings of large firms.