Hanoi (VNA)– The market capitalisation of Vietnam’s stock market approximated 6quadrillion VND (246.7 billion USD) in 2023, rising 9.5% from and equivalent toabout 62% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2022, statistics show.

Addressing a gongbeating ceremony held at the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX) on January 2 to markthe first trading session of 2024, Deputy Minister of Finance Nguyen Duc Chisaid that as of December 29 – the last working day of 2023, Vietnam’s benchmarkVN-Index reached 1,129.93 points, up by over 12% from the end of 2022.

The stock market’sliquidity topped 17.5 trillion VND per trading session, he noted, adding thatthere were 739 stocks and exchange traded funds listed and 862 stocks registeredfor transactions.

Meanwhile, thederivatives stock market remained stable with an average of 236,867 contracts tradedper session.

Accounts of new investorsincreased by over 350,000 last year, raising the total number of securitiesaccounts to nearly 7.4 million, equivalent to 7.5% of the population – higher thanthe 5% target set in the plan on restructuring the stock and insurance marketsby 2020 with orientations towards 2030.

Meanwhile,more than 305 trillion VND was mobilised via G-bond auctions, up 54.9% year onyear. The derivatives market recorded nearly 6 trillion VND worth of bonds tradedper session.

There were 210 successful privateplacements of corporate bonds worth over 218.43 trillion VND, Chi noted, addingthat last year also marked the trading system for private placements ofcorporate bonds officially put into operation, thus significantly helping withthe market’s openness, transparency, and sustainability.

In his speech, the official said thatin 2023, the stock market was managed and monitored constantly to ensure itssafe, smooth, transparent, and disciplined operations.

As the internationaland regional situations are predicted to continue facing complex developmentsthis year, financial policies need to be flexible, prudent, and closely followthe political and economic situations in the world and the region.

Vietnam’s stock marketalso needs to approach international standards and narrow its development gapwith the global market. It is also critically important to improve manpowerquality and information-related activities to serve market management, theDeputy Minister continued.

For her part, Chairwoman of the StateSecurities Commission of Vietnam Vu Thi Chan Phuong said that this year, thecommission will focus on perfecting policies, enhancing supervision,stringently dealing with violations, facilitating market development, andtaking measures for lifting the country’s stock market status from a frontiermarket to an emerging one./.