The new agreement identifies cooperation between the exchanges in the areas of IT development, trading system maintenance, dual listing of Thai-Vietnam joint ventures and the development of capital market education in Vietnam, SET President Ms. Patareeya Benjapolchai said.

"SET places a high priority on creating alliances and enhancing linkages, because increased collaboration and mutual development will strengthen ASEAN regional capital markets and economies," Ms. Patareeya noted.

"IT assistance from SET is important for the development of HOSE and complements our support for Vietnamese companies wishing to list on foreign exchanges, including the Thai bourse. SET is able to offer Vietnam considerable experience in capital market education and investor base expansion programs," HOSE President Dr. Tran Dac Sinh said.

The Thai exchange has been providing IT assistance to HOSE since 2000 and SET staff have gone to Ho Chi Minh City to advise on IT system development. The Vietnamese bourse has successfully developed an automatic order matching (AOM) system, which has been operational since July 2007.

HOSE, inaugurated in August 2007, is the upgraded version of the Ho Chi Minh City Securities Trading Center (HoSTC), which had occasionally sent staff to Bangkok on study trips. In preparation for this current collaboration, the two bourses shared insights and information in a staff exchange program.