Vietnam's stock market's remarkable progress in 25 years of development

Over 25 years of development, the scale of Vietnam's stock market has expanded, with liquidity leading the region with an average transaction of about 1 billion USD/day.

On July 28, the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HoSE) celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Vietnamese stock market and officially launched the new information technology system (KRX).

Vietnam Securities 25 years of liquidity explosion

At the ceremony, Ms. Nguyen Thi Viet Ha, Acting Chairwoman of HoSE, reviewed the journey from the first humble steps of the stock market. In 2000, the market had only 2 listed enterprises with a total capitalization of VND986 billion, equivalent to 0.28% of GDP, in the context of rudimentary infrastructure.

25 years later, the market has transformed into an indispensable pillar of the national financial system, with an increasingly complete and transparent legal framework and modern technology system. Market capitalization currently reaches about 73.5% of GDP, with more than 1,600 listed and registered enterprises trading on HoSE, HNX and UPCoM.

Not only expanding in scale, the Vietnamese stock market also shows its persistence in liquidity. The average transaction value in the 2021-2025 period reached more than VND 21,500 billion/session, 4.5 times higher than the 2015-2020 period and increased more than 390 times compared to the first years of operation. In particular, in the first months of 2025, the transaction value continued to break out, reaching VND 23,250 billion/session, the highest level in the ASEAN region.

Along with that development is the explosion in the number of investors. From only 3,000 trading accounts 25 years ago, the market has now attracted more than 10 million accounts, a clear demonstration of the growing appeal of the capital market.

Attending the ceremony, Ms. Nguyen Thi Mai Thanh, Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Refrigeration Electrical Engineering Corporation (REE), one of the first two companies listed on the Vietnam Stock Exchange, shared about the development journey associated with the stock market. After more than 30 years since equitization with a charter capital of only VND 16 billion, REE now has a capitalization of up to VND 36,000 billion.

According to Ms. Thanh, the stock market is not only a place to raise capital but also a launching pad for businesses to reach new heights. She said that in the coming period, REE aims to pioneer in the energy sector, part of a long-term strategy that the company is committed to focusing all resources on to successfully implement.

From the perspective of an institutional investor, Mr. Don Lam, CEO and founding shareholder of VinaCapital Group, affirmed the essential role of long-term investment funds in accompanying Vietnamese enterprises. Accordingly, from the very first days, Vina-Capital has strategically accompanied many large enterprises such as Vinamilk, FPT , Hoa Phat... These investments not only help strengthen the financial foundation but also promote domestic enterprises to reach out to the international market.

Mr. Don Lam emphasized that developing domestic investment funds will help Vietnam reduce its dependence on foreign capital and move towards national financial autonomy. However, the market still has some bottlenecks that need to be overcome, such as the lack of prominent initial public offerings (IPOs) since 2019, the market capitalization structure still depends heavily on the finance - real estate sector, while the high-tech and manufacturing sectors are still limited. In addition, the ratio of individual investors accounting for 85% of total transactions shows that the market still lacks strong participation from professional investment organizations.

Accordingly, he proposed 5 goals that the market needs to achieve in the next 5 years, including: upgrading Vietnam's stock market to the emerging market group; enhancing financial education for investors; promoting the participation of institutional investors; developing new financial products such as pension funds, infrastructure investment funds... and comprehensively modernizing market infrastructure. "The long-term vision is to deeply integrate with the international financial market, build a digital financial ecosystem and support the development of the private economic sector - the driving force for sustainable growth of the economy " - Mr. Don Lam expected.

Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc and Minister of Finance Nguyen Van Thang presented the Prime Minister's Certificate of Merit and congratulated the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange.

Key tasks

Also at the 25th Anniversary Ceremony, the Vietnam Stock Exchange officially launched a new information technology system with the Korea Stock Exchange (KRX) as the contractor. Mr. Luong Hai Sinh, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Vietnam Stock Exchange (VNX), commented that the launch of the new system marks a new step in the modernization of the Vietnam Stock Exchange, consolidating the position and role of the market in the national financial system, as well as its international influence.

According to Mr. Eunbo Jeong, Chairman of the Board of Directors of KRX, the process of building the new system encountered many difficulties, including the global economic crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic... but with great efforts from both sides, this project was successfully implemented. With a new and stable infrastructure, he believes that Vietnam's capital market will develop strongly, with many diverse products, attracting investors and the market will increase its resources strongly.

Speaking at the ceremony, Minister of Finance Nguyen Van Thang expressed that a quarter of a century, although not too long, is a journey of building and developing the Vietnamese stock market with courage and perseverance, from the beginning to the standard of a high-level market of the country's economy.

According to him, the Vietnamese stock market has shown its role and effective contribution in each stage of the country's economic development; thereby affirming itself as an important medium and long-term capital channel for the economy and enterprises. "These achievements are clear evidence of the correct policies and guidelines of the Party and State, the close guidance of the Government, the effective coordination of ministries, departments, branches and localities, domestic and international organizations... and the tireless efforts of generations of leaders, officials, employees in the securities sector and market members" - Minister Nguyen Van Thang emphasized.

Promoting the achieved results and with the highest determination to complete the goals and tasks assigned by the Government, in the coming time, Minister of Finance Nguyen Van Thang requested the entire securities industry to resolutely implement a number of key tasks. Firstly, continue to build and perfect a synchronous legal framework, in line with international practices, ensuring the stability, transparency and efficiency of the market.

Second, organize the market to operate safely, stably and effectively; reform administrative procedures, create favorable conditions for organizations and individuals to participate in the market; improve management capacity, quality of supervision, inspection, examination, and strictly handle violations, in order to improve transparency and market discipline. Third, continue to restructure the pillars of the market effectively, increase institutional investors, improve the quality of goods, diversify products and services on the stock market, and meet the diverse needs of the market and investors.

Fourth, promote digital transformation and modernize information technology infrastructure, both effectively serving state management and meeting market development requirements in the new period. Fifth, strengthen information dissemination and knowledge training for investors; promote comprehensive and in-depth international cooperation, enhance the position of the Vietnamese stock market, especially drastically and synchronously deploy solutions to soon upgrade the Vietnamese stock market from a frontier market to an emerging market, thereby strongly attracting domestic and foreign investment capital.

VN-Index hits historic peak

On the 25th anniversary of the Vietnam Stock Market, VN-Index officially reached a new peak of 1,557 points, up more than 26 points compared to the previous session. HNX-Index also increased sharply to 263.79 points. Along with that, the liquidity of the whole market reached more than 49,600 billion VND, the highest in many years.

A series of stocks in key sectors such as securities, banking, and steel all increased to their full range, creating a positive effect on the market. The exciting atmosphere spread strongly on forums, many new investors and even those who had left the market were returning.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Lam, Director of Analysis at Maybank Securities Company, commented that the market has increased strongly but is not yet too hot. The market's P/E valuation is currently only slightly higher than the 5-year average, while the GDP growth outlook and expectations of a market upgrade in September are the main drivers.

MBS Securities Company said that the average liquidity of the whole market in recent days has exceeded 40,000 billion VND/session, just lower than the peak at the end of 2021, which is a very positive development. However, investors need to closely observe leading stocks such as securities, real estate, Vingroup, and steel, as these are early indicators if there are signs of profit-taking or weakness. "The market is in a period of excitement, but we also need to be cautious to avoid short-term risks," said MBS experts.

Th. Phuong

Source: https://nld.com.vn/buoc-tien-vuot-bac-cua-chung-khoan-viet-nam-196250728203401855.htm