LAO/032
Support to the Triangular Cooperation in the Finance Sector between Vietnam, Laos and Luxembourg

Since its establishment in 2010, the Lao Securities Exchange (LSX) has provided a new channel for capital raising, but the market currently does not have the scale nor the quality to provide for long-term investment and capital formation in a fast-growing economy.

Market capitalization is small, with low liquidity and lack of products. The investor base is narrow, and their structure does not support the expansion of the capital market of Lao PDR.  The supervisory and regulatory institutions need to strengthen their capacity and develop tools and mechanisms for effective market supervision. Investment awareness and understanding of the securities market of domestic investors is limited and the professional educational curriculum is not fully developed.

The project’s overall goal is therefore to contribute to the development of the securities market of the Lao PDR. More specifically, the project aims to strengthen the Lao Securities Commission Office in achieving key targets of the Strategic Plan on Capital Market Development 2016- 2025. At project completion, it is expected that the conditions for increasing the number of listed companies will be in place, the human resource capacities of the Lao Securities Commission Office (LSCO) and the securities market professional community will have been strengthened and domestic investor awareness and understanding will have been increased.

The project focuses on three results:

• A path to stock market listing is prepared for targeted State Owned Enterprises (SOEs), which is linked to the project 1.2 set out in the Capital Markets Development Plan;
• Public awareness of securities markets and investment is increased, which is linked to program 10 set out in the Capital Markets Development Plan;
• Securities market professional education and training is operationally supported, which is linked to program 11 set out the Capital Markets Development Plan.