Overseas remittances have increased steadily year by year, and while alarge proportion of remittances end up being invested in real estate,just a tiny proportion has been put into the nation's stock market,Gardners&Partners Investment Joint Stock Co general director NguyenTien Thanh has said.
Just five years ago, mostremittances flowed directly into consumer spending, but more Vietnameseexpatriates are now paying greater attention to investment opportunitiesin the home country, Thanh said.
Overseas remittances hita record high of 9 billion USD in 2011, an impressive increase over2010's 8 billion USD and accounting for 9 percent of the nation's GDP.This moved Vietnam into the list of the top 16 nations around theworld in terms of overseas remittances received.
Almost 50percent of these remittances last year were invested in the real estatesector while deposits in banks accounted for 24.7 percent and consumerspending 19.4 percent. Only 0.9 percent were put into the stock market.
Few Vietnamese expatriates are keen on Vietnam 's stock market dueto heavy speculative tricks and insider trading, Thanh said. ManyVietnamese expatriates are also afraid to entrust money to investment orfund management companies for fear of wrongdoings.
"The possibility of detecting such deeds, and the penalty levels in Vietnam are limited," he said.
Overseas remittances are forecast to reach over 12 billion USD thisyear, Thanh said, and if only 10-20 percent of this amount are pouredbecome the stock market, it can help the stock market become a moreeffective channel for enterprises to raise capital.
"Itwill take some time to lure this money into the stock market," he said."The length of time will depend on how successfully the market can bereformed."/.