Foreign securities companies are moving to open representative offices in Vietnam, all vying for the opportunities to be gleaned from investment in the country's fast-growing stock market, according to local newspaper Vietnam Investment Review on Monday.

Vietnam's State Securities Commission has recently allowed four foreign enterprises, Blackhorse Asset Management Pte Ltd. Of Singapore, Nomura International Ltd. of China's Hong Kong, Mirae Maps Investment Management Company from South Korea, and the Tong Yang Investment Bank from South Korea, to open representative offices in the country.

Operations for the offices will focus on securities market research, promotion of cooperative projects within the securities sector, and supervision of contracts signed between parent companies and Vietnamese financial organizations.

Some other foreign firms have already applied to set up representative offices in Vietnam. Besides, Matsui Securities Co. Ltd., one of Japan's largest securities firms with more than 600, 000 accounts, is seeking opportunities for investment in the Vietnamese bourse, said the newspaper.

Under a deal on concluding bilateral negotiations between Vietnam and the United States on the former's entry to the World Trade Organization, as of the date of Vietnam's accession to the organization, foreign securities companies will be able to set up joint ventures with up to 49 percent foreign ownership. After five years, foreigners will be able to own 100 percent of securities firms.

Vietnam's stock market now hosts 15 securities companies, all of which are local concerns. Seven of these have been established by commercial banks. Many others are moving quickly toward obtaining licenses before impending changes to the Securities Law are enforced on Jan. 1, 2007, the report said.

Vietnam currently has 49 kinds of listed shares, 372 kinds of listed bonds, mostly government bonds, and one listed investment fund totaling nearly 65,932 billion Vietnamese dong (nearly 4.15 billion U.S. dollars).

Source: Xinhua