Three listed companies in the electricity sector, the Vinh Son-Song Hinh Hydroelectric Co (VSH), Pha Lai Thermal Power Co (PPC), and Khanh Hoa Power Co (KHP), have together accounted for 80.17 per cent of the total value of trades involving foreign investors.

The beverage sector came in at a distant second with Thang Long Wine Co (VTL) making up 5.24 per cent of transactions involving foreign investors, followed by Viet Nam National Reinsurance Corporation (VNR), accounting for 3.57 per cent.

Foreigners in the securities market have focused their investment on the power field because the Vietnamese stock market was still developing and lacked a broader range of stocks representing manufacturing and other sectors, particularly shares of companies making high-quality goods, suggested Don Lam, general director of the VinaCapital Fund Management Co.

Since the Ha Noi stock market began operations, the number of foreign investor accounts has grown rapidly from only 287 in July 2005 to 419 in December 2005. In the first five months of this year, the number more than doubled, reaching 859.

However, the proportion of stock market transactions involving foreign investors remained small. From January to August, the volume of shares traded by foreign investors at the centre was 1,618,406, with a value of VND45 billion (US$2.8 million), making up only 3.56 per cent of total value of traded shares.