SET President, Mr. Kittiratt Na-Ranong, announced that the SET signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to provide technical assistance and to mutually promote business opportunities with the HoChiMinh City Securities Trading Center (HoSTC). The MOU is an extension of the one which will expire this year.
The MOU is concerned primarily with technical assistance, especially maintenance of trading and related systems. In addition, the MOU will promote business opportunities between the two exchanges. Thai-Vietnamese joint ventures will be encouraged to list on the SET and may also list on the HoSTC later.
“Networking is important to the development of exchanges in the ASEAN region. Providing technical assistance and promoting business opportunities of both Thai and Vietnamese corporations is important. It will also give both countries’ corporations access to the other’s capital market. This collaboration will boost the image and role of the SET as it helps the HoSTC to develop and open up to more opportunities. The collaboration will also lead to a strengthening of the region in the future,” the SET President said.
The General Director of the HoSTC, Dr. Tran Dac Sinh stated: “The Vietnamese securities trading center has been expanding over the past five years. Currently there are 30 listed companies and a mutual fund company on the market. The total market capitalization of the HoSTC is VND5,442 bln. (approx. USD0.34 bln.) or 0.6% of Vietnam’s GDP in 2004. This is a relatively low portion. The Center, therefore, has been encouraging more foreign investment, an important element to the development of our market.
“Nevertheless, we are still a small market and lack several essential infrastructure components. With the assistance from the SET since the first MOU signing in 2000, we were able to become operational in July 2000. Furthermore, with the SET’s support and trust they have assured us of our market system’s efficiency and security. We also hope that our bilateral ties will continue to last for a long time.”
The MOU between the SET and the HoSTC will last for five years starting from October 3, 2005.
