Future opportunities Many international organizations point out that the world has few options left, aside from continuing to pump money to support the economy. Even when vaccines prove effective, the low-interest policy of the Central Bank will remain. The loosening of monetary policy has also been raised to a higher level, when the Central Bank of China, South Korea, and Thailand added new weapons such as the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). Accordingly, the loosening of monetary policy will not stop, even when the Central Bank has been digitized. This is consistent with the 4.0 era, as well as with the method to tackle the ongoing pandemic. Even after the pandemic ends, there will be many changes in business thinking as businesses will have more plans, products and services, and allow much more flexibility. So the stock market will be strongly supported by policy as well as transformation of the economy and enterprises. Therefore, the Vietnam stock market with companies and enterprises that apply well and create business efficiency will help attract more investment capital, thereby positively affecting the stock price. When the vaccine becomes widely effective, many industries will recover again and the economy will revive and so will the stock market. In addition, the world stock market will continue to rise to new heights, which will also support Vietnam's stock market. The control of the disease, and reasonable macro-management will help in attracting Foreign Direct Investment flow. This foreign cash flow will soon lift the market along with capital flow of individual investors, F0 investors, and strong domestic organizations. Concerns of market rise If we want the stock market to maintain a growth rate after a hot rise, as in 2020 that saw a huge level of liquidity, more cash flow and a faster economic recovery is needed. As the economy goes on a recovery momentum, financial assets have increased hotly which may easily lead to the phenomenon …
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Pham Thi Thu Diep – Leading the way
Two months into the role of country manager in Vietnam for such a big company, and 10 years into your IBM journey, what are your thoughts on the role of women in such a position? Pham Thi Thu Diep was appointed as the first female country general manager in Vietnam of IBM, the multinational technology company headquartered in New York. I have received the greatest support from the Vietnam team as well as from my regional colleagues as we transform to adapt to the new business environment. I feel fortunate that there are many programmes in IBM that will groom female leaders to hold significant positions in the company. My journey in the last 10 years as a female leader has been meaningful and fulfilling. But it is not so good across the board for women leaders. The latest IBM Institute for Business Value study on women in leadership in the workplace reveals that organisations are losing their footing in the effort to achieve gender equality in the global workforce, spurred in part by the pandemic. We are at a crossroads where failure to take immediate and bold action will have long-term business and societal repercussions. The start of 2020’s difficulties brought clearly to light the incredible pressures working women face both at home and in their careers. But one year later, leaders’ recognition of the challenge hasn’t turned it into a priority. IBM’s study shows gender equality is still not a top 10 business priority for 70 per cent of organisations, and optimism about the likelihood of progress is fading among both women and men. Are there any specific factors to address on the point that the pandemic has negatively affected working women? The massive shift to remote work brought renewed attention to the persistent challenges that women face as they work to advance their careers, during the workday and from the “second shift” of family responsibilities that many women pull at home after their day jobs end. C-Suite leaders widely …
VIETNAM BUSINESS NEWS MARCH 8
Small investors oppose expanding trading lot Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HOSE)’s proposal to raise the minimum trading lot to 1,000 shares is receiving mixed opinions from market experts and investors. The proposal was initiated by newly-appointed General Director of HOSE Le Hai Tra as a solution to reduce system overloads which have troubled traders recently. A 1,000 minimum trading lot will limit the participation of small investors, while the stock market is moving towards fairness and equality, said a budding investor. “My friends and I, when joining the stock market, only have a few tens to several hundreds of millions of dong, raising the minimum trading lot to 1,000 shares will directly affect our investment capacity,” said individual investor Diep. “With expensive stocks, we may have to spend hundreds of millions of dong to buy the minimum 1,000 shares,” she said. According to Diep, the stock market has never had such a chance for growth. New cash flow into the market pushed liquidity to a record high level. However, the new proposal may not only prevent new investors from entering the market but also discourage existing investors. “The plan to raise the minimum trading lot to 1,000 shares could quickly reduce the number of orders delivered daily on HOSE. However, it will cause frustration among small investors who are directly affected by the plan as they think they are not protected,” said Do Bao Ngoc, Deputy General Director of Kien Thiet Securities Vietnam (CSI). “This plan, if in place, will affect the rapid development of the stock market under the current favourable conditions, one of which is great interest from global investors,” he said. “Under the new plan, the most affected are the investors whose trading accounts have VND1 billion or less,” said Nguyen Hoang Hai, Vice Chairman of Viet Nam Association of Financial Investors (VAFI) According to VAFI statistics, investors whose trading accounts have VND500 million or less …