Vietnamese Prime Minister Le Minh Hung on Wednesday afternoon met Bassett and a delegation representing global investment institutions visiting and working in Vietnam.

The delegation included executives from global investment funds, as well as representatives of BlackRock and Vanguard, two of the world's largest asset management firms.

At the meeting, it was noted that Vanguard's emerging-market index funds had committed to deploying capital and adding Vietnamese stocks to their portfolios from September 21, 2026, when Vietnam's stock market is officially classified as a "secondary emerging" market under FTSE Russell's criteria.

Vietnam to move swiftly on central counterparty mechanism

Prime Minister Le Minh Hung praised FTSE Russell's role in monitoring, assessing and supporting Vietnam's stock market.

Vietnam views the market status upgrade as the starting point for a new phase of development, with higher quality, greater scale and increased professionalism in the stock market, he said.

With strong demand for capital to support economic growth, developing a deeper and more efficient capital market is an urgent task to mobilize resources from the domestic private and foreign sectors, alongside public investment and bank credit, the prime minister said.

Vietnam has issued a strategy for stock market development through 2030, while the government has approved a comprehensive reform plan for the country's financial market through 2045.

The plans aim to develop a more balanced capital market alongside the credit system and increase the ability of businesses and the economy to raise medium- and long-term capital.

Following the upgrade, Vietnam will continue regular dialogue with market participants and FTSE Russell to promptly update new standards and address areas requiring improvement in each review cycle.

A key task will be to quickly implement a central counterparty (CCP) mechanism in the stock market, while addressing issues arising from securities companies and global custodians.

Regulators will also encourage listed companies to adopt environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards, improve information transparency and apply corporate governance standards based on OECD principles to meet the requirements of international investment flows.

Vietnam also plans to diversify securities products and restructure its investor base towards greater participation by long-term institutional investors. It will modernize trading and settlement infrastructure, accelerate digital transformation and gradually shift regulatory oversight from compliance-based supervision to a risk-based approach.

The prime minister asked FTSE Russell to continue monitoring Vietnam and provide objective assessments of its economy and capital market, while working with the Ministry of Finance, the State Securities Commission and other regulators to develop the market in a transparent and efficient manner and bring it closer to international standards.

Beyond the stock market, the prime minister also asked FTSE Russell to support the development of Vietnam's financial market more broadly, including the operation of and mobilization of resources for the International Financial Center, which is located in both Ho Chi Minh City and Danang.

FTSE Russell pledges broad support for Vietnam's capital market

Fiona Bassett said FTSE Russell's decision to upgrade Vietnam's stock market status reflected the country's commitments, reform efforts and achievements in recent years, as well as investor confidence.

According to the FTSE Russell chief, Vietnam has become a liquid market in the Asia-Pacific region, with a high level of participation by foreign investors.

In particular, Bassett said the upgrade, together with an increase in Vietnam's weighting in the FTSE Emerging All Cap Index from 0.329% to 0.49%, could bring billions of dollars in capital into the Vietnamese stock market.

FTSE Russell also pledged comprehensive support to help Vietnam's capital market continue to develop, deepen its integration into international markets and attract foreign investment.

Bassett said FTSE Russell's support would go beyond the market upgrade and include developing market standards, improving market depth, liquidity and resilience; strengthening international investor confidence and participation; modernizing market infrastructure; developing institutional investors; building risk-management tools; and supporting the development of new products.

Under the roadmap previously confirmed by FTSE Russell, the allocation of Vietnamese stocks to FTSE index baskets will begin on September 21, 2026, and take place in several stages, with the process completed in September 2027.

In the first phase, starting in September 2026, Vietnamese stocks will be assigned a 10% weighting. The weighting is expected to rise by a further 20% in March 2027, 35% in June 2027 and the remaining 35% in September 2027, completing the inclusion of Vietnamese stocks in FTSE Russell's global index series.