Vietnam: Banks to Open up to More Foreign Investment?
March 2017
By Thomas Butcher, Researcher & Consultant
In an interview with Bloomberg Television on January 16, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said that, perhaps even this year, the country would raise the limits of foreign ownership of banks: “We will raise the ceiling and will also expand access to the securities market.”1)
In addition to plans for various “equitizations” in which state-owned enterprises are converted into “normal” companies with shareholders, the government is to divest itself of a number of other stakes. These include not only those in the two largest breweries in Vietnam, Hanoi Beer, Alcohol and Beverage JSC - Habeco and Saigon Beer, Alcohol and Beverage JSC – Sabeco, but also such enterprises as Vinamilk (dairy products), Bao Minh Insurance Corp., and Ha Giang Mineral Mechanics JSC.
It will be interesting to see how any or all of these help restructure the country’s economy and reduce public debt.
GDP Growth % - YoY
Source: World Bank
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