Binh was speaking at a conference entitled “Gateway to Vietnam” held in Ho Chi Minh City on October 25, under the theme “Capital Market - New Driver of Economic Growth”.
He said that now is good time for investors to seize the investment opportunities in Vietnam, citing the advantages in terms of a youthful population, political and social stability and improving business conditions.
The Deputy PM added that Vietnam is also a dynamic and attractive economy with GDP growth averaging 6.5% in recent years.
Binh emphasised the Vietnamese government’s aggressive efforts to reform the financial and monetary systems, and equitise State-owned enterprises, as well as a fresh approach which regards the private sector as a major force of economic growth.
He informed the conference that the market capitalisation of Vietnam’s stock and bond markets has reached over 100% of the GDP, compared with outstanding credit at 130% of the GDP, indicating that Vietnam’s financial market is advancing towards a state of equilibrium.
Nguyen Duy Hung, CEO of Saigon Securities Incorporation, said Gateway to Vietnam, is held to provide a look at a newly recovered market with many new assets and products, helping foreign investment funds to recognise opportunities from the Vietnamese market.
After 17 years since its establishment, Vietnam’s stock market is now known as one of the fastest-growing markets in terms of size and liquidity in ASEAN and the wider East Asian region.
The stock market cap has risen from 22% of the GDP in 2006 to more than 63% in 2017.
In 2006, there were 192 companies listed on both the Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchanges, with only one company having a market cap of over US$1 billion but the number of listed companies has increased to over 700 at present, of which 23 have a market cap of over US$1 billion.
