PM urges efforts to upgrade stock market to emerging status

The State Securities Commission of Vietnam (SSC) reported that amid big pressure posed by complex developments of global financial and stock markets, thanks to domestic macro-economic stability, strong and flexible directions from the Government, the PM and the Ministry of Finance, along with close coordination from relevant ministries, sectors and agencies, Vietnam’s stock market saw good recovery in 2023 with the market structure increasingly perfected and many important targets achieved, thus remaining a magnet for domestic and foreign investors and a useful channel for attracting capital to the economy.

PM Pham Minh Chinh (C) chairs the conference on this year's stock market development tasks on February 28. (Photo: VNA)

As of December 29, 2023, the benchmark VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HOSE) reached 1,129.93 points and the HNX-Index on the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX), 231.04 points, respectively rising 12.2% and 12.5% from the end of 2022, which were good growth rates compared to many other Asian countries’, the SSC said.

By the end of last year, the market capitalisation hit 5.937 quadrillion VND (241 billion USD), up 13.6% from 2022 and equivalent to 58.1% of the estimated GDP of 2023.

There were 739 stocks and exchange traded funds listed on the two trading platforms, and 862 stocks registered for transactions on the unlisted public company market (UPCoM). Their value totaled 2.128 quadrillion VND, up 7.3% from the end of 2022.

Meanwhile, new investors joining in the market continued increasing sharply. Last year, the number of investors’ accounts rose 395,290 from 2022 to more than 7.29 million, equivalent to 7.5% of the population, exceeding the target of 5% set by the Government, statistics show.

Addressing the event, PM Chinh stated that the Government always protects the legitimate rights and interests of investors and relevant players in the stock market.

PM Pham Minh Chinh talks to participants in the conference. (Photo: VNA)

The stock market is an important part of the financial market and the socialist-oriented market economy of Vietnam. It is a flexible and attractive investment channel, a channel for mobilising medium- and long-term capital for businesses, and a critical contributor to economic restructuring, State-owned enterprise equitisation, growth model reform, and socio-economic development, he affirmed.

The PM went on to say that for nearly 25 years of development, though Vietnam’s stock market is still relatively young compared to others in the region and the world, it has become mature quickly, shown its potential and positive outlook, and gradually established itself as a channel for medium- and long-term capital mobilisation in the economy, thereby considerably helping with socio-economic development.

He underscored the task of developing a comprehensive, safe, healthy, effective, and sustainable stock market consistent with the country’s financial market and integrates into the world.

Market development needs to be carried out in tandem with growth model reform and economic restructuring. Besides, it is important to develop both the size and quality of this market, pay due attention to IT application, adopt international norms and standards, and enhance management and monitoring to ensure market security and safety, according to PM Chinh.

Stressing the spirit of ensuring legitimate interests of all market players, he asked ministries, sectors, localities, businesses, market members, and investors to join hands to strongly and sustainably bolster the stock market to generate harmonious interests for all.