The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) and Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) today (April 7) covering a wide variety of activities to develop their two markets.
This MOU, signed by SET President Patareeya Benjapolchai and SSE President Yujun Zhang, and witnessed by SET Chairman Sompol Kiatphaibool, and effective immediately, marked the formalization of cooperation between the two exchanges, and lays the framework for cross-trading of securities, sharing information and personnel, networking among top executives, and developing seminars and research,benefiting participants in both capital markets.
Thailand and China have firm and long-standing ties in politics, commerce, and investment. Currently,China is the second-largest source of direct investment in Thailand by value, and China is Thailand’s second-largest business partner. Mr. Sompol revealed, “I strongly believe that the warm and strong relationship between our respective exchanges will help drive the relationship between our countries and lead to stronger trade and investment alliances.” Ms. Patareeya said, “The two exchanges will seek to develop exchange-traded funds with international indices as the underlying assets and collaborate in other ways that will strengthen the competitiveness of both markets.”
The SSE has USD2.7 trillion in market capitalization, the second largest in Asia, and is also second largest in terms of funds raised. While the SET seeks to become the gateway to Indochina and have a significant role in the ASEAN Linkage project that will make trades between exchanges in the region more convenient for investors, the signing of this MoU enables the SET to have another strong partnership within the region. Currently, 30 SET-listed companies invest in China, and 24% of respondents to recent SET survey were interested in or already in the process of analyzing business opportunities in China.
