The decisive stage
Over the years, upgrading the Vietnamese stock market from frontier to emerging market has always been one of the strategic goals that the Government, the Ministry of Finance and competent authorities have persistently pursued.
To date, the Vietnamese stock market has recorded many important advances and continues to be on the upgrading monitoring list of international rating organizations such as FTSE Russell and MSCI. These organizations highly appreciate market potential but still set a number of conditions related to foreign investor rights, payment - offset mechanisms, and information access.
To speed up the upgrading roadmap and ensure the goal of being upgraded this year, the Government Office recently issued Official Letter No. 5981/VPCP-KTTH to the Minister of Finance and the Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam, conveying the direction of Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc on upgrading the stock market. The Ministry of Finance is assigned to preside over and coordinate with relevant agencies to continue implementing necessary measures to meet the upgrading criteria of international organizations.
According to the representative of the State Securities Commission, the contents related to the upgrading roadmap have been comprehensively implemented, closely following the set goals. Mr. Hoang Van Thu - Vice Chairman of the State Securities Commission said: "The Securities Commission is vigorously implementing in many aspects, from perfecting the legal framework to technical solutions. We have made great efforts, especially in contacting foreign organizations and investors to better understand the current situation and development level of the Vietnamese stock market, said Mr. Thu.
Basically completing legal and technical requirements
The focus of the upgrading process is to complete the legal framework and technical infrastructure according to international standards, while creating a transparent and stable operating environment for foreign investors to confidently access the market. Vice Chairman of the State Securities Commission Hoang Van Thu emphasized: The Ministry of Finance has issued Circular 68 related to transactions, especially deposit transactions. Circular 68 is just a preliminary step to prepare for a more important content, which is to establish a central clearing mechanism - one of the points that we are currently trying to improve".
In addition to Circular 68, the legal document system continues to be updated in a synchronous direction and in accordance with the requirements of rating organizations. The Ministry of Finance has also issued Circular 18 amending Circular 119 on storage, clearing payment, and Circular 96 on information disclosure, to ensure compliance with the upgrade goal, especially compatible with the KRX system that has just been put into operation.
The KRX system is a new technology platform serving the entire market, officially coming into operation from May 5, 2025. After operation, the KRX system has been operating stably and safely, and no incidents have been recorded during operation.
Notably, the process of perfecting institutions does not only occur within the financial sector. According to Mr. Hoang Van Thu, "The State Bank has also actively coordinated with the issuance of Circular 03 to reduce administrative procedures for foreign investors, especially facilitating the opening of accounts for transactions and payments. This is an effort to demonstrate the close coordination between the two agencies.
Regarding the key requirement of the central clearing payment model (CCP), Mr. Hoang Van Thu emphasized: "We are currently continuing to improve the content of the amended Decree 155, in the spirit of the 2024 Securities Law (Law No. 56). In particular, a very important content is to regulate more clearly the central clearing payment model (CP model). Law 56 has affirmed that this model is not only applicable to the derivatives market but also to the consumer goods market, which has been approved by the National Assembly.
According to Mr. Thu, foreign investors believe that the ownership ratio of organizations listed on the Vietnamese stock market is not really equal. Decree 155 will also be amended and supplemented with content related to the ownership ratio of foreign investors in listed organizations, to clearly demonstrate the open viewpoint of the Vietnamese Government, as well as to recognize the equal activities of foreign investors in the Vietnamese stock market.
With the legal and technical work being implemented synchronously, Mr. Hoang Van Thu affirmed: "Thus, up to now, considering the necessary requirements for mechanisms and legal policies to serve the upgrade goal, we believe that we have basically met all requirements".
* Dr. Nguyen Duy Phuong, Director of Strategic Investment of DG Capital, said that in FTSE's March 2025 periodic upgrading assessment report, although FTSE assessed that the two criteria related to "payment cycle (DvP)" and "account for costs related to failed transactions" are still limited and not achieved, FTSE has noted Vietnam's progress in implementing the model of no-pre-Funding.
* VN-Index closed the last session of the first half of 2025 at 1,376.07 points, up more than 8.6% since the beginning of the year and the highest mark since April 2022. Liquidity has improved significantly, with the average order matching value on HOSE reaching VND15,600 billion/session, and in the second quarter alone reaching VND19 600 billion/session. Although foreign investors still net sold more than VND39,853 billion in 6 months, this pressure is gradually decreasing: In the first quarter, they sold nearly VND26,000 billion, in the second quarter, there were about VND13,915 billion; in May alone, they recorded a net buyback of VND896 billion - the first time after 15 consecutive months of withdrawal. The market is assessed to be more stable in terms of psychology, with a positive macro foundation and high expectations for the possibility of being upgraded by FTSE this year, promising to attract billions of USD in foreign capital.
