Organised in collaboration with local broker partners, Invest ASEAN 2013, underscores the collaborative effort and on-going progress of ASEAN Exchanges towards the development of the ASEAN capital market as a highly investable asset class. The Invest ASEAN 2013 roadshow is one of the many efforts being undertaken to profile the exciting companies listed on the seven exchanges in ASEAN to both domestic and foreign investors.

The ASEAN Exchanges CEOs reported that the debut rollout of Invest ASEAN 2013 received enthusiastic response from local investors who attended the event to learn more about ASEAN investment opportunities and to gain insights to investing in ASEAN stocks directly from experts and corporate leaders.

Charamporn Jothikasthira, President of The Stock Exchange of Thailand said, "The enthusiastic turnout of local investors at Invest ASEAN 2013 debut roadshow is a strong validation of the collaborative efforts of ASEAN Exchanges to open up cross border trade in ASEAN. Indeed for retail investors, Invest ASEAN 2013 presents an exciting beginning to new investment opportunities in ASEAN and the turnout confirms investors' readiness and desire to trade cross border. And this was reaffirmed by the positive feedback received from many of the 1,200 investors in total who attended Invest ASEAN 2013."

Magnus Bocker, Chief Executive Officer of Singapore Exchange concurred, saying, "Invest ASEAN underscores the firm collaborative partnership of ASEAN Exchanges in its commitment to create an ASEAN asset class by providing investors a unique channel and access into the ASEAN market that is robust and growing. The interest shown by investors in Invest ASEAN is heartening and supports ASEAN Exchanges' ambition to grow intra-regional investment flows."

Tajuddin Atan, Chief Executive Officer of Bursa Malaysia, added that the success of Invest ASEAN went beyond the goal to reach out to investors as it also garnered wider attention and interest from the internnational investment community.

Tajuddin said, "We are very pleased by the wider recognition and interest in ASEAN Exchanges stemming from our collaborative initiatives. Invest ASEAN has in fact further raised our profile particularly amongst the international investment and trade community. Recently, a western trade council approached us with their keen interest to work with ASEAN Exchanges. This is a strong endorsement of the collaborative efforts of ASEAN Exchanges in our effort to promote ASEAN as an asset class.

"On that note, cross border visibility and familiarity is paramount not only amongst investors but primarily, the regulators and capital market players. To this end, I applaud the steps taken by HoChiMinh Stock Exchange and Hanoi Stock Exchange to host Invest ASEAN in Vietnam", added Tajuddin.

Following the successful debut rollout, the ASEAN Exchanges CEOs were united in their decision to rollout Invest ASEAN 2013, beginning with HoChiMinh Stock Exchange.

In Vietnam, Invest ASEAN 2013 will be rolled out to Regulators, Brokers and Fund Managers, in a move to align market players towards integration with other ASEAN capital markets in the future.

Dr. Tran Dac Sinh, Chairman of HoChiMinh Stock Exchange, said, "We are encouraged by the success of Invest ASEAN 2013, signifying the strong interest amongst investors to trade cross border in ASEAN. HoChiMinh Stock Exchange and Hanoi Stock Exchange are excited to bring about progress to our market to attain the level of market maturity necessary and, we hope to fast-track this process by bringing Invest ASEAN 2013 first to our Regulators, Brokers and Fund Managers."

The Invest ASEAN 2013 debut roadshow profiled a total of 11 public listed companies including ASEAN Stars companies from Bursa Malaysia, Singapore Exchange and The Stock Exchange of Thailand. Company CEOs and executives were present to engage directly with the investors while the roadshow also garnered strong support from ASEAN Trading Link Participating Brokers who were present at the roadshows to educate investors about cross border trading.

Invest ASEAN 2013 is one of the many efforts being undertaken by ASEAN Exchanges to promote the exciting companies listed on the seven exchanges in ASEAN.

ASEAN Stars are the 180 ASEAN blue-chip stocks that represent the 30 most exciting companies of each ASEAN Exchanges country as ranked by investability in terms of market capitalisation and liquidity.

The roadshow is the latest collaborative initiative by ASEAN Exchanges following its successful rollout of the ASEAN Trading Link connecting the exchanges of Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, providing investors easier accessibility to trade a total of over 2,200 counters listed on these three exchanges