Invest in ASEAN!

I have a friend in Vietnam, he is 24 years old this year, currently working in a bank as Customer Service Manager. He told me that he traded actively in local stock exchange and the investment amount was about USD 30,000. I did not believe him as I had no knowledge in Vietnamese economy and stock exchange.

Recently, I received some information about a new fund launched by a local UTMC (Unit Trust Management Company), a fund that invests in ASEAN market. ASEAN stands for Association of Southeast Asian Nations, it comprises of 10 countries including Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia, etc.

After some study at wikipedia, I found out that 4 ASEAN countries top the chart of world’s population: Indonesia 4^th, the Philippines 12^th, Vietnam 13^th and Thailand 20^th. ASEAN has an estimated population of 573 million! (source: www.wikipedia.org)

Another discovery: GDP (Gross Domestic Products) growth rate of ASEAN countries are very consistent comparing to the rest of the regions in the world. Over the past 6 years, the GDP per capita for ASEAN was 6.8% whereas it was only 5.4% for the whole world.

GDP Growth Forecast for major economies in ASEAN (%):

Country	2007F	2008F
Vietnam	8.4	8.1
Indonesia	5.6	6
Singapore	6.2	6
Malaysia	6	5.8
Philippines	5.5	5
Thailand	4.8	4.5

(source: Bloomberg)

As for stock market performance, I also found out that ASEAN stock markets are performing very well since 2004. Some examples of the high performers from 2004 until 31^st August 2007:

Country	Return
Vietnam	447.00%
Indonesia	217.20%
Philippines	133.30%

I am definitely investing in this new fund as I like to diversify my investment geographically! Moreover, there is a discount in service charge during offer period! Send me an email if you would like to know how to invest in this new ASEAN fund: anson.chng@gmail.com

p/s: Now I know that my friend in Vietnam is not lying, he is investing a lot in the booming Vietnam market!