An investor follows market fluctuations at Saigon Securities' trading floor. — VNS Photo Doan Tung

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — Viet Nam is leading the pack in Southeast Asia this year when it comes to raising funds from initial public offerings (IPOs), Bloomberg reported.

According to Bloomberg, Vietnamese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) have mobilised more than US$170 million from IPOs so far this year. Thus, Viet Nam is the leading ASEAN nation in this indicator, compared with Malaysia's nearly $160 million, Thailand's nearly $40 million and Indonesia's $10 million.

Bloomberg said several Vietnamese SOEs were planning to launch IPOs, with 177 expected to do so by 2020, including Viet Nam Mobile Telecom Services Co. and Việt Nam National Shipping Lines, according to Saigon Securities Inc.

The Ha Noi Stock Exchange has been grooming companies that aren't ready for listing on its regulated over-the-counter market and was planning to speed up the process, Nguyen Anh Phong, the bourse's deputy CEO, told Bloomberg.

In an interview with Viet Nam News Agency, Tran Hoang Ngan, a member of the National Assembly's (NA) Economic Committee, said the government planned to divest $1.8 billion in a series of SOEs under lot auctions in 2016. — VNS