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The Ministry of Finance has plans to change all securities decrees and circulars to create a better system of legal documents for the local stock market in the coming time in hopes of attracting more foreign funds, said Deputy Minister of Finance Tran Xuan Ha.
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| Deputy Minister of Finance Tran Xuan Ha beats the gong to open the first trading session of Hanoi Stock Exchange after the traditional Tet holiday on Tuesday - Photo: Hong Phuc |
“This year, the ministry will continue completing the legal framework for the equity market. We will reorganize operations on the Hanoi and HCMC stock exchanges and the government bond market, and launch new products,” Ha said at the celebration of the first trading session of Hanoi Stock Exchange after the Tet holiday on Tuesday.
The change is aimed to facilitate operations of investors, with special hope laid on foreign investment funds following positive signals last year.
The net outflow of foreign funds from the local equity market totaled US$1.9 billion in 2008, but the amount was reduced to a mere US$230 million, while last year, net foreign inflow amounted to US$900 million, said State Securities Commission (SSC) chairman Vu Bang.
At a time when foreign funds are draining their capital from developing markets worldwide, developments in Vietnam are positive. “So, it is believed that the capital flow will increase in 2011,” Bang explained.
The nation last year gained improvements in export, import, trade deficit and foreign investment despite difficulties in the global economy. If Vietnam speeds up equitization and keeps selling stakes to foreign strategic partners, this is a wise solution to stabilize indirect investment flows in the long term, Bang added.
Nguyen Son, head of the Stock Market Development Department under SSC, said in an earlier meeting with securities journalists that legal changes would help promote liquidity on the market, such as allowing investors to open many accounts, and buy and sell shares on the same session.
SSC is now revising regulations on deposit transaction and authorization for stock brokers and will report to the ministry soon, Son said.
Vietnam’s stock market capitalization represented nearly 37% of GDP (gross domestic product) last year while capital mobilization value grew 3.5 times against 2009. “This is a positive sign for the economy and suggests that the stock market still has strong development potentials,” deputy finance minister Ha said.
