Under a plan on restructuring the stock and insurance markets by 2020 with a vision until 2025 approved by the Prime Minister in early 2019, Vietnam aims to have capitalization value of the stock market equal to 100 percent of GDP by 2020.

The current figure is 80 percent of GDP.

Whether the goal is attainable depends on two things – share prices and the number of shares listed on the bourse. However, analysts say it will be difficult to persuade the remaining businesses which make up 20 percent of GDP to list shares on the bourse.

Of these, businesses run by families are the most ‘conservative’. Many of them have very large scale of operation, valued at billions of dollars, such as Tan Hiep Phat, IPP, Trung Thuy Group, Ba Huan and Biti’s.

Analysts said the companies don’t have demand for mobilizing capital in the stock market because they are ‘cash kings’. As they are family-run enterprises, they may fear that the listing would lead to a loss of power concentration, or their cultural value and business know-how would be ‘diluted’.

The dispute between Ba Huan and VinaCapital two years ago showed that these enterprises are not ready to join the capital market.

Some companies said ‘no’ soon after they were asked whether they have plans to list shares on the bourse. Kymdan, the rubber mattress producer, and Biti’s, the consumer goods manufacturer, are two examples.

Nguyen Huu Tri, chair of Kymdan, said he doesn’t intend to list shares.

The problem lies in the know-how for making latex mattresses invented by Tri’s father. The formula is an inherited asset of Tri and his family that Tri doesn’t intend to share with anyone else.

The ‘hiding’ of family-run businesses makes it more difficult to learn about their value. Two years ago, one of the two beloved daughters of Tan Hiep Phat family published a book revealing that a large group in the US wanted to buy Tan Hiep Phat at $2.5 billion.

Lai Khiem, deputy general director of Biti’s, also confirmed that the company doesn’t intend to list shares or call for capital contributions.

The ‘hiding’ of family-run businesses makes it more difficult to learn about their value. Two years ago, one of the two beloved daughters of Tan Hiep Phat family published a book revealing that a large group in the US wanted to buy Tan Hiep Phat at $2.5 billion.

This was the only information about the business scale that investors have ever accessed.

According to Bui Tuan Minh, deputy CEO of Deloitte Vietnam, private businesses owned by a limited number of shareholders or by private businesses do not bear pressure from supervision and requirements on transparency. They don’t worry about the risk of being swallowed up by others, and they can make decisions quickly.

Kim Chi

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