Bien Viet Securities Co has joined forces with the RoK Woori Investment& Securities Ltd to launch a new index to track the trade-weighted value of the Vietnam dong.

The VND-Index would aim to measure the strength of the dong relative to other currencies from its major trading partners, including the US, EU, Japan, China, Taiwan, Singapore and the RoK, according to Bien Viet Securities.

Last year, trade with these countries and territories accounted for 70 percent of Vietnam ’s total export value and 74 percent of its import value, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s data.

The index has been designed to include a daily nominal index and a monthly real index adjusted for inflation-each set at a starting - point of 100, computed as the geometric mean of the bilateral exchange rates of the included currencies. The weight assigned to the value of each currency in the calculation will be based on trade data and will be annually updated.

“One of the major reasons that VND-Index is chosen to start at a basis point of 100 is that the country’s trade deficit, around since 2006, was erased in January, when exports exceeded import value by 467 million USD,” said Bien Viet Securities CEO Vu Duc Nghia in a press release.

Initial calculations have shown that the dong was stable in June and July, a good sign for the economy, Nghia said, noting that the index would be valuable tool for fund managers in adjusting their investment portfolios./.