Asean bourses okay plan to promote investments

MANILA, Philippines - The group of the seven largest stock markets in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) plans to take full advantage of the popularity of social media to promote investment opportunities in the region.

In a recent meeting held in Kuala Lumpur, the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) said chief executive officers (CEOs) of the Asean Exchanges approved a new cooperation plan which would focus on the use of digital and social media tools to promote greater awareness and knowledge among investors about Asean investment opportunities.

The PSE said among such social media tools include the use of Twitter and Twitter based #Tags to consolidate news and conversations around Asean investment products.

Enhancements to the Asean Exchanges website were also completed and introduced giving investors a single point view of the seven countries, the operator of the country’s only stock exchange said.

The PSE is part of the seven-stock market collaboration called Asean Exchanges, which also includes exchanges from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Together, the seven ASEAN Exchanges have a combined market capitalization of approximately $2.4 trillion with more than 3,000 companies listed on their exchanges.

 “It’s a great opportunity for the Philippines capital market to be part of this Asean growth story. We understand the challenges in integrating the ASEAN markets but we believe the opportunities in the region appear to be much greater,” PSE president and CEO Hans B. Sicat said.

The Asean Exchanges CEOs met in Kuala Lumpur last Feb. 11 and 12 to discuss ways on how to further harmonize and integrate ASEAN capital markets in order to better support the growth of all ASEAN economies.

“The emergence of Asean as an integrated capital market is already happening. Asean Exchanges will continue to support this development and partnership in the spirit of competitive-collaboration. ASEAN Exchanges will continue to provide investors an easy access to the diverse investment opportunities of Asean,” said Dato’ Tajuddin Atan, CEO of Bursa Malaysia.

The Asean Exchanges aims to promote the growth of the ASEAN capital market by driving cross-border collaboration, streamlining access to Asean, creating Asean centric products and implementing targeted promotional initiatives.