More than 100 foreign financial organisations showed their interest in the Vietnamese market during their working sessions with the country’s businesses on the sidelines of the “Invest ASEAN” conference held in Singapore from April 1-2 by the Maybank Kim Eng Group.

A representative from the Bao Viet Group said that many major corporations, including France’s BNP Paribas Management Partners bank and Japan’s Nomura Asset Management and Nikko Asset Management Asia Ltd, worked with the group to learn about it and seek investment opportunities in Vietnam.

Leaders of Vietnamese businesses all agreed that the conference offered a venue for investors to meet and seek partners.

John Chong, CEO of Maybank Kim Eng Group, said that Invest ASEAN drew 70 companies from six ASEAN member countries - Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

It also saw the participation of representatives of corporations from 17 countries with a total market capitalisation of 135 billion USD as well as funds totalling over 14 trillion USD in assets under management.

The event aimed to enhance investors’ awareness and understanding of the investment potential in ASEAN as well as spur investments into the region.

President and CEO of Malaysia’s Maybank Group Datuk Abdul Farid Alias expressed his optimism at Vietnam’s financial restructuring and state-owned enterprise equitisation, saying that the group has added 15 million USD to the Maybank Kim Eng Group’s activities in Vietnam.-VNA