HÀ NỘI Viet Nam News - — Việt Nam’s two stock bourses yesterday agreed to jointly build a common index as a step towards developing the country’s securities market.

The co-operative effort was agreed upon by the HCM Stock Exchange (HOSE) and the Hà Nội Stock Exchange (HNX) under a Memorandum of Understanding signed by the two sides yesterday.

HOSE General Director Trần Văn Dũng said the common index was expected to be officially launched by the end of this year.

"It is an important step to lure more investment from foreign investors as well as improve the transparency and trustworthiness of the Vietnamese securities market," Dũng said.

He said Việt Nam was the only ASEAN country in which two stock bourses were allowed to operate simultaneously.

"When seeking investment opportunities in Việt Nam, foreign investors often look at the VN30 or VN-Index, while many well-performing companies are also listed on the Hà Nội Stock Exchange," he said.  

HNX Chairman Nguyễn Thành Long affirmed that the common index would serve as a base to develop investment products.

Dũng from HOSE added that the index must reflect movements of the country’s stock market.

According to Dũng, a series of technical discussions will be held by a specialised working team so that an agreement on the common index can be reached by the middle of this year. The second half of the year will allow time to prepare infrastructure and facilities for the index launch.

Long said that under the MoU, HOSE and HNX also agreed to co-operate in standardising information and data system, developing the corporate bond market, strengthening corporate governance and supervising transactions in line with international practices.

A day earlier, during HOSE’s regular press briefing, Dũng announced that HOSE would also create a sustainable growth index this year.

The exchange would continue to collaborate with the State Securities Commission in order to issue a draft decree that guides the issuance and transactions of covered warrants and makes preparations to start derivative trading.

"Developing the corporate bond market is another area the exchange plans to work on this year," he said.

HOSE’s total trading value in the first quarter of the year was VNĐ130 trillion (US$5.9 billion), representing an increase of 34 per cent from the same period last year.

Trading by foreign investors at the exchange also increased over the previous quarter in terms of both volumes and value.

They bought securities worth VNĐ22.339 trillion ($1 billion) while their sales were worth VNĐ23.339 trillion, up from VNĐ17.505 trillion ($781 million) and VNĐ18.922 trillion in the last quarter of 2015.

Foreigners bought 707 million shares and sold almost 663 million. The figures were nearly 596 and 610 million in the previous quarter.

Their buying and selling represented 17.17 per cent and 17.94 per cent of the total market transactions. In 2015, their buying accounted for 14 per cent, and selling for 13.62 per cent. – VNS