Minister of Finance Hồ Đức Phớc awards the Certificate of Merit to SOVICO Group and FPT Corporation for their outstanding contribution to mitigating the overload at the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange. — Photo courtesy of the company

HÀ NỘI — Minister of Finance Hồ Đức Phớc held a meeting on October 15 with executives from SOVICO Group and FPT Group to discuss the use of IT and digital transformation in the financial industry and assess a new trading system they created for the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange to clear its congestion.

According to a report the State Securities Commission furnished at the meeting, at a conference in March chaired by Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính, the two companies proposed allowing private companies to help fix the stock exchange’s congestion problem.

The two companies asked to collaborate with the Ministry of Finance to fix the problem.

By July 5 the new stock trading platform developed by the two companies was operational with a processing capacity three to five times higher than the old one.

Its capacity of three to five million transactions a day would satisfy market demand for at least three to five years, and HoSE could meanwhile fully master the technology and expand it in future, the report said.

The average transaction value per day increased from VNĐ15.7 trillion (US$690.9 million) in the first quarter (before the new system was installed) to more than VNĐ21 trillion ($923.5 million) in the third quarter, strongly reassuring investors in Việt Nam's financial market during the stressful period caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaking at the meeting, Nguyễn Thị Phương Thảo, chairworman of SOVICO Group, said the two companies with hundreds of employees participating in the project were honoured to help ensure stability and continuity in the most important capital market.

“Even amid the raging pandemic and disruption of production and supply chains, transactions on HoSE total around VNĐ30 trillion ($1.3 billion) per session, which is a bright spot in the country's finances and economy.”

Trương Gia Bình, chairman of FPT's board of directors, said: “The stock market is considered a barometer of the economy, and ensuring the stability of HoSE contributes to raising Việt Nam's reputation among global organisations and investors.

“I think the private sector needs more opportunities to promote its role in creating a strong driving force for the country’s economic development. Vietnamese businesses can do well when trusted.

“The business community needs to be facilitated in all fields and on all scales so that it can help solve economic and social problems, and make good use of opportunities and integrate into industrial revolution 4.0.”

The two companies raised a number of proposals for digital transformation in the financial sector such as providing services to taxpayers, simplifying administrative procedures for tax registration by individuals, fighting tax fraud, using e-invoices to increase collection and reduce tax fraud, and others.

Thảo said: “Technology is created from people's dreams. It is necessary to lead the trend of digitisation and automation along with industrial revolution 4.0, a key factor in countries’ growth."

At the conclusion of the meeting Phớc thanked SOVICO and FPT for assisting the financial industry for many years in achieving digital transformation.

He said the solutions and proposals for digital transformation in the financial sector that FPT proposed were very practical.

His ministry would soon come out with an IT development strategy for the period until 2030, he said.

For their outstanding contribution to mitigating the overload at HoSE, he awarded the certificate of merit from the Minister of Finance to FPT and SOVICO. — VNS