Vietnam Social Security, a $2.5 billion agency, intends to invest up to 10% of its assets overseas starting in 2006, says Nguyen Huy-Ban, Hanoi-based director-general. We want to invest in international equities, he says, noting the organization has been discussing this request with the office of the prime minister, its governing body, for several years and that recently the authorities agreed to liberalize investment rules two years from now.
Although small by regional standards, VSS is very big in a local context. The Vietnam stock exchange in Ho Chi Minh City has a market cap of just over $10 million. Nearly all of VSS' assets are invested in government bonds,...
