Nguyễn Hoàng Dương, Deputy Director of the Finance Ministry’s Department of Banking and Financial Institutions, speaks at the seminar. Photo vietnambiz.vn

HÀ NỘI — Many international credit rating organisations want to join the Vietnamese market, attendees heard at a seminar in HCM City on Friday.

Nguyễn Hoàng Dương, Deputy Director of the Finance Ministry’s Department of Banking and Financial Institutions, said at the seminar that credit rating plays an important role in the financial market in general and the bond market in particular.

The activity provides information for investors to assess financial and debt payment capacity of targeted financial products as well as relevant risks, while helping ministries and agencies amend regulations on capital safety in the banking, stock and insurance sectors, he explained.

In recent years, Việt Nam’s corporate bond market has grown rapidly, requiring the establishment of credit rating organisations in order to promote the publicity and transparency of the market.

The Finance Ministry will grant licences to a maximum of five credit rating firms under a planning scheme on credit rating service development by 2020 with a vision towards 2030, according to Dương.

He added that two firms have been licensed and become operational in the domestic market.

A number of international firms have also shown their interest in the Vietnamese market, and the ministry will consider their proposals, he said.

Donald Lambert, Principal Private Sector Development Specialist from the Asian Development Bank (ADB)'s Southeast Asia Department, told the press that the participation of prestigious rating organisations would help Việt Nam’s credit rating services approach international standards, and make the country’s corporate bond market and the capital market as well develop more sustainably.

The seminar on developing credit rating was jointly held by the Ministry of Finance and the ADB.

The ministry said it will further coordinate with international organisations to hold relevant events to raise the business community’s awareness about the use of credit rating in bond issuance. —VNS