Vietnamese Stock Market Marks a 25-Year Achievement, Transitioning from Pioneer to Leader
Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange Celebrates 25th Anniversary
The Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HoSE) is celebrating its 25th anniversary today, marking a quarter-century of growth and evolution into a significant financial institution in Vietnam.
Originally a nascent market with just a few listings, HoSE has transformed into a robust exchange with over 1,600 listed companies and around 10 million investor accounts. This transformation reflects Vietnam’s broader economic liberalization, incorporating regulatory improvements, digital modernization, and strategic positioning to evolve into a robust emerging market exchange.
Key aspects of HoSE’s evolution include gradual legal framework enhancements, market structural reforms, and digital transformation efforts. These changes have aimed at ensuring market stability, transparency, and operational safety, strengthening institutional investors, improving asset quality, and diversifying products and services.
As of May, HoSE boasts 391 stocks, 21 listed fund certificates, and 192 covered warrants. The exchange, the nation's largest by market capitalization and liquidity, now accounts for nearly 100% of the country's GDP, a significant increase from just 0.2% at inception. The number of trading accounts has grown exponentially from 2,997 at the end of 2000 to over 10 million by May.
Market infrastructure has also advanced, with continuous order-matching, broader trading hours, odd-lot transactions, and market orders enhancing liquidity. HoSE may soon be upgraded from a frontier to an emerging market status, which is expected to attract significant foreign inflows.
Looking ahead, HoSE and the broader Vietnamese stock market plan to implement synchronized measures to achieve this upgrade, continue deep restructuring, boost institutional investor involvement, and improve the overall quality and diversity of listed products. They also aim to enhance investor education, public awareness, and foster stronger international cooperation to elevate Vietnam’s global market standing.
Advancements in digital and technological modernization are also on the agenda, to enable smoother operations and support the expanding market ecosystem. These developmental strategies underline the market's goal to sustain vigorous growth and deeper integration with global financial markets, leveraging its solid 25-year foundation.
Transparency and compliance remain cornerstones for HoSE, with a reduction in disclosure violations by nearly 80% over the last decade. The VN-Index, which started at 100 points in 2000, reached a new record level of 1,557.42 points on July 28.
Major securities companies like SSI Securities Corporation, Techcom Securities, and VNDirect Securities Company have charter capital of VNĐ19.64 trillion, VNĐ19.6 trillion, and VNĐ15.2 trillion, respectively. The total assets under management (AUM) in Vietnam's capital market represent 6.5% of the country's 2024 GDP.
HoSE was inaugurated on July 28, 2000. Over the years, it has modernized its infrastructure, launching an Exchange Tower in 2014, a backup data center in 2016, and a new IT system in May 2021. English-language disclosures have been bolstered, and investor relations efforts among listed firms have been encouraged.
HoSE is actively participating in international bodies like the World Federation of Exchanges and the Asian and Oceanian Stock Exchanges Federation, aiming to integrate further into the global financial system. As a founding member of the ASEAN Exchanges Initiative, HoSE supports Vietnam's ambition to become a regional financial center.
The asset management industry in Vietnam has expanded, with 43 licensed fund managers overseeing 123 investment funds with assets under management (AUM) exceeding VNĐ750 trillion. Between 2005 and 2025, the exchange hosted 584 auctions, generating more than VNĐ240 trillion.
Over the past 25 years, HoSE has played a pivotal role in economic financing in Vietnam, with Refrigeration Electrical Engineering Corporation (REE) pioneering equitization and listing on HoSE around 2000, marking the start of capital market development that supported the transition from state-owned enterprises to market-driven entities. The average daily trading volume has surged to 860 million securities and VNĐ19 trillion, compared to just 55,000 units and VNĐ1.4 billion in 2000.
In summary, HoSE’s transformation reflects Vietnam’s broader economic liberalization, incorporating regulatory improvements, digital modernization, and strategic positioning to evolve into a robust emerging market exchange.
- The Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HoSE), in celebrating its 25th anniversary, has grown from a nascent market to a significant player in Vietnam's financial landscape, with over 1,600 listed companies and around 10 million investor accounts.
- HoSE's evolution has been marked by gradual legal framework enhancements, market structural reforms, and digital transformation efforts, aiming to ensure market stability, transparency, and operational safety.
- In terms of finance, HoSE currently boasts 391 stocks, 21 listed fund certificates, and 192 covered warrants, making it the nation's largest exchange by market capitalization and liquidity.
- The exchange has seen a significant increase in its influence, accounting for nearly 100% of the country’s GDP, a stark contrast to the minimal 0.2% at inception.
- Looking forward, HoSE and the broader Vietnamese stock market aim to implement measures to upgrade their status, continue deep restructuring, boost institutional investor involvement, and improve the overall quality and diversity of listed products.
- Advancements in digital and technological modernization are also on the agenda, to enable smoother operations and support the expanding market ecosystem.
- HoSE's goal is to sustain vigorous growth and deeper integration with global financial markets, while maintaining transparency and compliance as cornerstones, and leveraging its solid 25-year foundation.
