Asean bourses set new road show

The Asean Exchanges, a group that includes the Philippine Stock Exchange, is embarking on the next phase of a road show to promote cross-border trading in the region.

The group of seven exchanges said in a statement that the next leg would be held in Vietnam, bypassing Indonesia and the Philippines for what is considered a high-growth but less-developed market in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

The first phase of the promotion tour dubbed Invest Asean 2013 covered Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia, whose exchanges were the first ones to link up electronically through the Asean Trading Link. The move contributes to the goal of building an integrated Asean Economic Community by 2015.

The three countries, along with Indonesia and the Philippines, are the founding members of Asean and also the more advanced economies in the 10-member grouping. Brunei, Cambodia, Laos and Burma (Myanmar) are not represented in Asean Exchanges.

Two of the seven members of Asean Exchanges are the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX) and the Hochiminh Stock Exchange (HOSE)—both of Vietnam. Following a meeting of bourse chief executives on April 1, Asean Exchanges decided to hold a fourth leg of the road show through a forum at the Hose.

Asean Exchanges cited the “enthusiastic turnout” that “was reaffirmed by the positive feedback received from many of the 1,200 investors in total who attended Invest Asean 2013.”

“We are encouraged by the success of Invest Asean 2013, signifying the strong interest among investors to trade cross-border in Asean,” Hose chair Tran Dac Sinh said in a joint statement.