A great opportunity from upgrading the Vietnamese stock market
On November 27-28, the Ministry of Finance of Vietnam and the Australian Ministry of Planning and Investment will organize the Vietnam - Australia Financial Policy Dialogue in 2025, implementing the Action Plan to implement the Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation for the period 2024 - 2028.
Sharing about the development of the stock market in Vietnam, Mr. Nguyen Khac Chien - Deputy Head of the Legal - External Affairs Department (State Securities Commission) said that FTSE Russell has officially announced the upgrading of Vietnam from the frontier market to the secondary emerging market, effective from September 2026. Before the decision takes effect, Vietnam will undergo an mid-term assessment in March 2026.
According to Mr. Chien, one of the important requirements is to improve conditions for international investment organizations to access the market through global brokers. Allowing transactions through global brokerage companies helps simplify procedures and create peace of mind for large investors, especially large-scale investment funds abroad that require strict compliance with internal procedures.
A representative of the State Securities Commission said that through discussions with international investors and industry associations, many organizations prefer to choose global brokerage companies instead of directly trading through domestic securities companies. This both meets their operational standards and improves their reliability in market management and operation.
Mr. Chien emphasized that when upgraded, the Vietnamese stock market will be in the group of emerging markets along with China, India or Kuwait. This change is expected to create strong reform momentum in management - supervision, operating practices as well as in the operations of listed enterprises. According to him, there will be a "race" in the group of leading enterprises, such as the top 100 largest companies, to strive to be selected for the FTSE index baskets.
The upgrade also promotes the need for market transparency. Market members, especially securities companies and depositors, will have to improve operational efficiency to better serve foreign investors, thereby contributing to improving the overall quality of operations.
According to Mr. Chien, when put into operation, the KRX system has met expectations and handled large transaction volumes. From May to June, July and August, the stock market recorded a positive sentiment, with a trading value of approximately 3 billion USD and the VN-Index reached its highest level in many years.
This result is achieved thanks to the strong direction of the Government, the Prime Minister, and the quick coordination of the Ministry of Finance and the State Bank. The State Bank also accompanies the amendment of regulations related to opening indirect investment capital accounts, payment accounts of foreign investors and reducing consular legalization procedures for investors and investment funds.
Australia pledges to accompany Vietnam in developing financial markets
From Australia, Mr. Terence ( Terry) Kouts - representative of the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) - said that Australia has a developed market with a large number of licensed brokerage units with a system of regulations and a complete licensing mechanism.
Mr. Terry also provided information about Australia's pension system with a scale of about 4,000 billion USD and continues to grow, greater than the total market capitalization managed by ASIC. Pension funds play an important role when reserving about 25% of their portfolios to invest in markets monitored by ASIC, while investing abroad and in the private asset sector. However, Australia still lacks data in some segments of the private equity market and needs to strengthen supervision.
The leader of the Australian Treasury Department affirmed that Australia is committed to supporting Vietnam in the development of the financial market and the stock market in the coming time.
