VLCA 2025: New standards for listed companies in emerging markets

Ms. Vu Thi Chan Phuong - Chairwoman of the State Securities Commission spoke at the Conference.

The year 2025 marks the 25th anniversary of the formation and development of the Vietnamese stock market. From a rudimentary capital channel, the market has now become an important component of the national financial system, closely linked to the process of economic restructuring, growth model innovation and international integration.

Along with the expansion in scale, the demand for market quality is becoming a new development axis, especially in the context of Vietnam preparing to enter the "playground" of emerging markets.

Speaking at the VLCA 2025 Awards Ceremony, Ms. Vu Thi Chan Phuong - Chairwoman of the State Securities Commission acknowledged that despite strong fluctuations in the international economy and finance, the Vietnamese stock market still maintains its stability and role as an important medium- and long-term capital mobilization channel for the economy.

This stability is the foundation for the market to confidently enter a new development phase, but at the same time requires stronger standards of governance, transparency and sustainable development.

2025 is also a pivotal year with milestones that "unlock" infrastructure. The KRX information technology system officially operates stably, safely, and smoothly, creating a foundation for expanding the scale of transactions and deploying new products and services.

Along with that, FTSE Russell's announcement to upgrade Vietnam's market from frontier to secondary emerging is a strategic turning point.

According to the roadmap, in September 2026, Vietnamese listed company stocks will be officially included in the FTSE Russell index basket, while the scale and speed of capital allocation will depend on each review period.

In the context of international institutional capital flows beginning to "examine" the Vietnamese market more closely, VLCA 2025 is seen as an important test of the readiness of listed enterprises to meet emerging standards - where it is no longer just a matter of profit, but a combination of governance capacity, information transparency and ESG practices.

Annual report: From “publicity obligation” to strategic dialogue tool with the market

A clear shift in VLCA 2025 is the way businesses approach annual reports. While in the past, annual reports were mainly a compliance-oriented summary of business results, more and more businesses now see them as a strategic dialogue tool with the market and investors.

The first change is reflected in the reporting structure. Instead of separating the financial-management-risk-sustainable development sections, many businesses choose an integrated presentation, closely linking strategy-business model-implementation results-risk-prospects.

This approach helps investors not only look back at past figures, but also understand the business's operational capacity and development orientation in the medium and long term.

At the same time, the level of transparency regarding the role and activities of the Board of Directors has also been significantly improved. Meeting attendance, remuneration, nomination-appointment mechanisms, and the relationship between the Board of Directors' decisions and operating results are more specifically disclosed. Contents that were once considered "sensitive" are now becoming important criteria in the appraisal process of institutional investors.

According to the Chairman of the State Securities Commission, along with the process of upgrading the market, the requirements for information transparency and the quality of corporate reporting will be increasingly higher. Proactively upgrading the quality of annual reports is not only to fulfill the obligation to disclose information, but also to prepare information capacity to access high-quality capital flows.

It is noteworthy that not only large-cap companies, but also more and more small and medium-sized enterprises are starting to invest systematically in the reporting system. The mindset of “reporting is an obligation” is gradually giving way to the mindset of “reporting is an asset”. In the context of international investment funds increasingly considering annual reports as primary appraisal documents, the quality of reports can directly impact capital allocation decisions.

However, VLCA 2025 also points out the “gaps” that need to be filled soon: many reports still lack the connection between strategy-risk-business results; the explanation of financial fluctuations is not deep enough; the quantification of the impact of macro risks and industry risks is still a formality. These are the factors that businesses must improve if they want to keep up with the emerging standards.

Top 10 annual report award-winning businesses.

Corporate Governance: The New Standard for Listed Companies in the Emerging Market Era

If the annual report is the “information surface”, then corporate governance is the “underlying structure” that determines the quality of business operations. The corporate governance category at VLCA 2025 shows a picture that has both bright spots and systemic challenges.

A notable change is that the role of the Board of Directors is increasingly being promoted in a more separate direction from the Executive Board. Many enterprises have established specialized committees such as audit committees, personnel-remuneration committees, nomination committees, moving towards a multi-layered governance model, instead of concentrating power in a few individuals.

Transparency in related-party transactions and disclosure of remuneration and benefits of managers and board members have also improved, reflecting growing pressure from shareholders and investors for transparency and accountability.

In the context of Vietnam aiming for high growth associated with digital transformation and green transformation, Ms. Vu Thi Chan Phuong repeatedly emphasized that the role of the stock market will continue to be enhanced as a key medium- and long-term capital channel for the economy. This requires the entire market to improve the quality of operations, perfect mechanisms and especially strengthen transparent corporate governance to strengthen investor confidence.

However, reality also shows that corporate governance in Vietnam is still in its early stages compared to regional standards. The rate of independent members of the Board of Directors is still low; the mechanism for evaluating the performance of the Board of Directors is not yet popular; the development and implementation of ethical codes and violation reporting mechanisms are limited. In the context of international capital flows that set very high standards for governance, these are vital “bottlenecks”.

Therefore, the Chairman of the State Securities Commission requested that stock exchanges and related units continue to have breakthrough solutions, bringing Vietnam's Corporate Governance Scorecard closer to the leading group in ASEAN. For listed enterprises, the requirement is not only to comply with the law, but also to proactively apply and practice good governance practices, considering this as a pillar of long-term competitiveness.

From a market perspective, it is becoming increasingly clear that when entering the "test cycle" of international capital flows, good governance will become a prerequisite, even more important than short-term profit targets.

Sustainability report: ESG from global trend to measure Vietnamese business capacity

If corporate governance is the “backbone”, ESG and sustainability reporting are the measures of a business’s readiness to meet long-term development requirements. At VLCA 2025, the Sustainability Reporting category continued to record a sharp increase in the number of businesses passing the preliminary round, showing that ESG is no longer “a story of a few”.

Globally , incorporating ESG information into annual reports has become a common practice, reflecting the close link between sustainable development, operational efficiency and profitability. In Vietnam, domestic and international investors are also paying increasing attention to green investment opportunities, especially when ESG becomes an important risk assessment criterion before making investment decisions.

The Chairman of the State Securities Commission shared that upgrading ESG reporting not only helps businesses attract capital, but also expands the market and enhances long-term competitive advantage. The Ministry of Finance has issued the Green Classification List; the State Securities Commission has coordinated the implementation of the ESG Information Disclosure Guidebook, and at the same time promoted international cooperation to support businesses in accessing new standards.

In fact, many listed companies have begun to apply standards such as GRI, TCFD, IFRS S1, IFRS S2, gradually integrating environmental, social and governance factors into their risk management systems and development strategies. This shift shows that ESG is no longer a communication activity, but is gradually becoming a component of operational strategy.

However, the gap between businesses is still large. Many businesses only stop at the level of “qualitative reporting”, lacking quantitative indicators on emissions, energy use, labor safety, and supply chains. Meanwhile, for responsible investment funds, quantitative ESG data is an important basis for decision-making.

From VLCA 2025, it is clear that upgrading the market does not mean that every business will automatically benefit from international capital flows. As it enters the emerging stage, the market will operate under a more rigorous standard, where annual reporting, corporate governance and ESG become three mandatory pillars.

As a State management agency, the State Securities Commission affirms that it will continue to accompany the market through perfecting the legal framework, implementing major projects on upgrading and restructuring the investor base, developing the fund industry, promoting digital transformation in management, supervision and strengthening market discipline.

From this perspective, VLCA 2025 is not only a milestone of honor, but has become a "movement gauge" of listed enterprises in their journey into emerging markets, where "hard infrastructure" is ready with KRX, and "soft infrastructure" in terms of governance and ESG is the decisive issue.

Source: https://nhandan.vn/vlca-2025-chuan-moi-cho-doanh-nghiep-niem-yet-trong-giai-doan-thi-truong-moi-noi-post928867.html