Hanoi (VNA) - A number of listed companies - especiallythose whose capital structures have run out of space for foreign investment - willdiscuss raising foreign ownership at their coming annual shareholder meetings.

According to the HCM and Hanoi Stock Exchanges,there are 30 companies that cannot receive additional foreign investment.

Some of these companies are operating in thesectors involved in national security such as banking and property, while somecan only lift the limit of foreign ownership on approval of their majorshareholders.

Additional foreign ownership has remained a bigchallenge for listed companies in the Vietnamese stock market.

Recently, the construction giant Cotecconspostponed its annual shareholder meeting, which was scheduled on April 13, asthe company wanted to ask its shareholders to approve the plan to raise thelimit of foreign ownership in the company to 60 percent from 49 percent.

The company’s shares are an attractive targetfor both domestic and foreign investors, as the construction firm boasts a highgrowth rate and constant market growth.

In addition, Hoa Binh Construction & RealEstate Corporation will hold its annual shareholder meeting on April 26 todiscuss business strategies for 2017 and ask the shareholders to approve thelifting of foreign ownership in the firm.

Other companies that will do the same include BinhMinh Plastic, HCM City Securities, DHG Pharmacy Company and insurance-financefirm PVI Holdings.

Of the four companies, Binh Minh Plastic and HCMCity Securities will be the two companies that attract the most attention whenthey bring the topic of foreign investment to their annual shareholder meeting.

According to the management board of HCM CitySecurities, raising the limit of foreign ownership would help the companyincrease share trading liquidity, raise more capital and receive more supportfrom foreign shareholders.

In the case of Binh Minh Plastic, foreigninvestors hold 49 percent of the firm’s capital. The company has run out ofspace for more foreign investment and has drawn high attention from some foreigncompanies such as the Thailand-based Siam Cement Group (SCG) and the plasticsector itself often has big M&A deals with top plastic corporations tryingto acquire local companies in order to enter the domestic markets.

The issue of raising foreign investment hasremained a difficult challenge for both listed companies and market regulatorsafter the finance ministry in June 2015 decided to allow listed firms to liftthe limit of foreign investment, depending on the sectors that the companiesare operating in.

Raising foreign ownership in listed companies isalso one of the decisive factors that Vietnam needs to take into considerationif it wants to promote its stock market from the level of a frontier market tothe level of an emerging market in order to attract higher foreigninvestment.-VNA