Vietnam’s stock market is witnessing a strong rally amid a revival in initial public offerings ( IPOs ) and regulatory reforms.

The benchmark VN Index has risen 30% year-to-date, marking its strongest performance in three years.

A flurry of listings in the second half of 2025 bolstered the IPO market, with Techcom Securities JSC raising 10.82 trillion dong ( US$409 million ) following a 2.5x oversubscription.  Since their trading debuts in August, Taseco Land Investment has surged by more than half while consumer finance lender F88 has risen by almost a quarter.

Following muted trading in the first half, strong corporate results have lifted the market in H2. Led by the non-financial sector, net earnings of listed companies surged by a third in Q2, compared to a year ago, the most in the last six quarters, according to the Ho Chi Minh City-based research company FiinTrade.  

Ongoing market reforms are sustaining the strong momentum. Apart from promoting listing activities, regulators are also initiating efforts to boost foreign participation, which has been dampened by persistent selling pressure – over 30 trillion dong were sold in August, and another 23 trillion dong in September, bringing the total foreign net sales for the first nine months of 2025 to 86 trillion dong.

FTSE Russell upgrade hopes

In a bid to improve capital inflows, the Ministry of Finance has eased rules on foreign access, introducing a new assessment model that allows overseas investors to increase their presence in the private market. More significantly, caps on foreign ownership of stocks have been removed. 

Also, digitalization has shortened the investment application and approval process.

Listing procedures have been simplified as well: it now takes just 30 days to process an application, compared to three months previously.

Regulators have been stepping up efforts at market liberalization after MSCI earlier this year decided to maintain Vietnam’s status as a frontier market, dashing hopes that it would be promoted to an “emerging market”.

Recent reforms are aimed at improving areas such as foreign ownership, foreign exchange liberalization, and market regulation, which the country hopes will lead to a market status upgrade by FTSE Russell, a development that is likely to add US$1.4 billion in capital flows, DBS estimates. Currently, the country remains on the watch list, and a decision is expected by October.

“If Vietnam continues to push key reforms and make itself more accessible ( as we believe it will ), it will only be a matter of time before more overseas investors are persuaded by its powerful growth story to look more closely at Vietnamese stocks,” states T. Rowe Price.