The Yangon Stock Exchange (YSX) can be a training ground for local companies (experts)

Myanmar firms at the top of their game should list on foreign exchanges, an audience at a Bloomberg conference in Yangon has heard, but others should consider listing on the lo­cal exchange as a training ground.

Kesara Manchusree, President of the Stock Ex­change of Thailand, told an audience at the Invest Myanmar conference in Yangon earlier this month that larger local enterpris­es could get experience in tightening up their gov­ernance and reporting procedures by joining to Yangon Stock Exchange.

This would help prepare them to conduct business at an international level, she added.

Small local companies, meanwhile, might be bet­ter off turning to private equity firms and angel investors to learn how to deal with foreigners and understand minor­ity shareholder rights, she said.

Critics of Myanmar’s new stock exchange, one of the youngest in the world and probably the smallest, say it is a vanity project. They point to low trading volumes and the precipitous decline of the MYANPIX index – while global indexes have risen – as proof it is a failure.

But the argument that the stock exchange can serve as a place to help Myanmar’s formerly iso­lated companies find their feet in a global environ­ment will encourage its supporters.

Ms Manchusree said do­mestic financial exchang­es had been beneficial to Thai companies. “Listing on the stock exchange is an opportunity for a fam­ily business to pass wealth to future generations. The process of listing puts in place proper govern­ance, accounting systems, audits and professional staff,” she said.

“Some of our small companies have become very big global players now. Many Thai firms grew up this way. Due to the publically available information, we learned from each other as well.” Additional reporting by Joshua

(Myanmar Business Today: http://www.mmbiztoday.com/articles/yangon-stock-exchange-can-be-training-ground-local-companies)

​