Hang Jin Yun, head of KIS's Market Department, told a conference on the market's outlook, held in Ha Noi yesterday, that Viet Nam has been one of the fastest growth markets in the world.

"The VN-Index has been on an upward trend compared with other countries in the region," Yun stated, adding that the market would have the potential to increase by 25 per cent over last year.

He noted that the domestic stock market had suffered losses in recent trading sessions. However, the fall was not remarkable because the market has seen an overall surge since the beginning of the year.

With favourable factors including a stable macro-economy, improved business profits and enhanced expectations from the restructuring process, the stock market will be a more attractive investment channel compared to other channels, such as gold, real estate and bank savings.

As of February 14, 2014, the VN-Index rose 13.4 per cent, while the HNX-Index posted 16.1 per cent growth over the same period last year.

Shares in the energy, IT, industry, finance and banking sectors had a relatively high growth rate.

KIS expected GDP to rise 5.5-6 per cent this year, while exports, which were forecast to have a growth rate of 10 per cent, and foreign direct investment would continue to be the main drivers for the country's growth.

In particular, he said, stocks in the garments and textiles, footwear, house wares, and seafood sectors, as well as the coffee sector, would enjoy benefits after Viet Nam joins the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement since these products had high exports to the United States. — VNS