December 3, 2015

Frontier Markets: Myanmar vs. Vietnam

I like a little healthy competition, and when it’s between two stock exchanges, it gets really exciting. Two of my favorite countries to invest in for the long term are Myanmar, especially now that the elections went the way I hoped, and Vietnam, who scored the highest in a global poll on capitalism.

Let’s start with Myanmar and the recent pronouncement by Deputy Finance Minister Maung Maung Thein about next Wednesday’s launch of the Yangon Stock Exchange. The deputy minister is quoted in an article for The Nation saying, “Vietnam's stock market may be bigger than ours in term of figures. But our experience is not so different. According to economists' estimations, our stock exchange may catch up with Vietnam's within three years.”

Now I don’t know if that is his sense of humor or if he was being serious, but I will give him the benefit of the doubt and take him at his word. At first glance it does seem to be somewhat of an arrogant statement, considering the stock exchange hasn’t yet accepted its first trade, and will open with six or seven companies compared to the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange with its 348 listings. But there is an underlying story here and I will sum it up in three words: Democracy versus Communism. (Courtesy of Nasdaq)

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