Securities and Exchange Commission of Myanmar (SECM) eyes state-owned enterprises to become players in local state market

Securities and Exchange Commission of Myanmar (SECM) is planning to convince state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to become listed companies at the five-year-old Yangon Stock Exchange, which only has six listed companies so far.

“For the SOEs, which need government funding, they can remain as state-owned ones. For the rest, which should run without government funding and under private management, and, by becoming listed companies, can benefit shareholders while reducing investment burden on the government, they, we have discussed, should be made listed companies,” U Htay Chun, Commissioner at SECM, told Myanmar Business Today.

He exemplified Vietnam’s success story in making its stock market more active and developed by transforming state-owned enterprises into listed companies. Therefore, Myanmar is aiming to develop its inactive stock exchange by transforming SOEs to listed ones. The government, on the other hand, has also been privatizing some of the state-run businesses.

There are six listed companies on the YSX: First Myanmar Investment (FMI), Myanmar Thilawa SEZ Holdings (MTSH), Myanmar Citizens Bank (MCB), First Private Bank (FPB), TMH Telecom (TMH) and Ever Flow River Group (EFR). During the pandemic, a new company also filed to be listed on the Yangon Stock Exchange.

To make the stock market more active and robust, SECM has also allowed foreign investors and organizations to buy stocks at Yangon Stock Exchange starting from March 20 this year. As of July 10, foreign investors and entities have purchased a total of 38,910 shares from FMI (5,715 shares), MTSH (27,815 shares) and EFR (5,380 shares).

In 2019, the total trade volume at the Yangon Stock Exchange was over 2.4 million shares worth over K13.391 billion.

(Myanmar Business Today: https://mmbiztoday.com/secm-eyes-state-owned-enterprises-to-become-players-in-stock-market/ )

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