Vietnam issues licenses to 291 foreign institutional investors in 2013

Vietnam issued trading licenses to 291 foreign institutional investors in 2013, up from 255 issued in 2012, the Vietnam Securities Depository Agency said Friday.

There are now 2,270 licensed foreign institutional investors in the country.

Permission to trade was given to 439 foreign individuals last year compared with 537 in 2012, raising that total to 14,461, the agency said in a statement.

Foreigners bought shares valued at 5.505 trillion Vietnam dong ($261 million) on the Hochiminh Stock Exchange in 2013, compared with a net purchase of VND3.188 trillion during the previous year.

Vietnam's share index, or VN index, rose 22% in 2013 after gaining 17.7% in 2012. It fell 27.5% in 2011.

By the end of last year, the market capitalization of the Hochiminh Stock Exchange--Vietnam's main bourse--was VND840 trillion, up 23.5% from a earlier year. The market cap of the Hanoi Stock Exchange was VND106.85 trillion in 2013, up from VND86.75 trillion in 2012, the agency said.

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