As part of the Investment Promotion Program in South Korea by the delegation of the Ministry of Finance and the State Securities Commission, on the afternoon of March 7, there was a working session with Mr. Lee Bok-hyun, Governor of the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) of South Korea.
Speaking at the meeting, Chairwoman of the State Securities Commission Vu Thi Chan Phuong said that South Korea is one of the three largest countries in terms of direct and indirect investment in Vietnam. She also affirmed that the Vietnamese Government, as well as the Ministry of Finance and the State Securities Commission, are creating the best conditions for foreign investors in general and Korean investors in particular to invest in the Vietnamese stock market.
The Chairwoman of the State Securities Commission noted that the Vietnamese capital market has made remarkable advances in recent years. In 2001, there were only 3 listed stocks, but now there are 1,600 listed enterprises, registered for trading on 2 stock exchanges.
The market capitalization on the stock market has reached 270 billion USD, accounting for 63% of GDP. The number of investors participating in the stock market is increasing, with about 7.4 million investor accounts, accounting for 7.2% of the population. Currently, FTSE Russell is monitoring the upgrade of the Vietnamese stock market from a frontier market to an emerging market.
In the Vietnamese stock market, the participation of Korean investors has been quite positive. The Chairwoman of the State Securities Commission also happily shared with the Governor the business activities of 3 fund management companies and 8 securities companies from Korea that are providing securities services to domestic and foreign investors. By 2023, there will be 2 securities companies in the top 10 brokerage market shares among the 82 securities companies operating normally in the Vietnamese stock market.
At the meeting, the Chairwoman of the State Securities Commission highly appreciated the support of the Financial Supervisory Service of Korea in general and the FSS in particular. The leadership of the State Securities Commission also expressed the desire to continue receiving support in terms of training, sharing experiences in market supervision and strengthening information sharing between the capital markets of the two countries.
Speaking at the meeting, Mr. Lee Bok-hyun, the FSS Governor, said that there are currently many retirement funds, investment funds, and investors interested in investing in the Vietnamese stock market. The Korean Government also highly encourages enterprises, financial institutions, and banks to invest abroad, and the FSS is very supportive in promoting business and encouraging enterprises to invest in neighboring markets and Vietnam.
In particular, Mr. Lee Bok-hyun affirmed that the FSS and the Korean Government desire to enhance cooperation and mutual support between the Korean capital market and Vietnam to promote stable and sustainable development. The FSS is ready to cooperate with the State Securities Commission of Vietnam to implement bilateral cooperation activities and share experiences between the two agencies in managing and supervising the stock market.
During the working session, the two sides exchanged and provided a wealth of information and experiences on securities management, supervision, inspection, and market operation.
