Vietnam to have stock market

Vietnam to have stock market

HANOI (AP): Vietnam will launch its long-awaited stock market
in Ho Chi Minh City on July 20 but so far only two companies are
listed, State Securities Commission Chairman Nguyen Duc Quang
said Friday.

The government has been planning a stock exchange for several
years, but had postponed the launch because of a lack of
companies willing to list and concerns a bourse will expose
Vietnam's financial system to unnecessary risk.

Only Ho Chi Minh City-based Refrigeration Electrical
Engineering and the Cables and Telecommunications Materials
joint-stock company in neighboring Dong Nai province, have been
licensed to list their shares.

But the government says the main source of commodities for the
exchange floor will be government bonds, bank bonds and project
bonds.

Quang said Friday he hopes several more companies will be
approved before the market's launch.