In a colonial building in Myanmar's largest city, the big screen shows shares of a few companies.
Four people, maybe tourists, maybe investors, walking back and forth on the floor.
The clock knocked 11 times.
The price suddenly changed.
Then, in an instant, all the people left.
This is just another day on the Yangon Stock Exchange, Asia's smallest exchange.
It only has five companies and only updates the price four times a day.
These are high points.
For the rest of the time nothing happened.
But Thet Htun Oo, a senior official at the exchange, said it could change.
Last year, Myanmar passed a new company law that allows foreign investors to own up to 35% of local companies.
This may be of great significance to the stock exchange.
Only domestic investors have been allowed to trade so far.
But soon, it is also possible for foreigners to participate.
Securities regulators only need to give OK.
Then, in two phases, the exchange will welcome foreigners in Myanmar and then institutional investors overseas.
That's exactly where it needs to take off, says Htun Oo.
When asked when this will happen, he said sometime this year.
Emerging exchanges will be the last in the region to open to overseas investors, following in the footsteps of Laos and Cambodia, both of which have been the case in the past decade.
"We need foreign investors . "
He said the current demand is very low due to the lack of investment knowledge of the Burmese people.
The small investor base has little to do to motivate local companies to spend their time and money going public and to take on more onerous corporate governance requirements.
The Myanmar Securities Regulator confirmed the expected schedule.
Retail and institutional investors are expected within the year
Htay Chun, a member of the Myanmar Securities and Exchange Commission, said in an email.
He said the SEC would inform the exchange that it could continue to welcome foreigners within two months of "obtaining superior approval.
Specific instructions will also be issued to YSX, securities companies and listed companies.
Htun Oo estimates that 50 to 60 companies in Myanmar are performing well and can be listed on the exchange.
Some have begun preparing to work with local securities companies.
He hopes that 20 to 30 companies will be listed in the next five years.
But the fact is that 26% of the more than 53 million people still live in poverty, and less than 1-
Third, there are more things to worry about in Myanmar.
As a violent army, the progress of the country has been affected.
The crackdown on Rohingya Muslims led by Rakhine continues to be widely criticized and has largely blocked Western companies.
Nevertheless, Masaharu Harada, a board director of the exchange, said he believes foreign investors will remain interested in the local stock market due to Myanmar's high growth potential
Institutional investors, in particular, are more likely to take risks in exchange for the long term
Harada, one of two delegates from Daiwa Securities Group
Said in Yangon. Japan’s second-
The largest brokerage company worked for 20 years to help build an exchange before it was established in 2015.
It has a 49% stake in Japan's exchange group.
The rest is the responsibility of Myanmar's Ministry of Finance.
Read more news about Myanmar
Interest of foreign investors in development
Neighboring Vietnam can already see state stocks.
There, the stock market has soared more than seven times.
It has doubled since 2012, surpassing all Asian peers, worth $190 billion (
Myanmar, by contrast, is about $0. 335 billion)
Thanks to the economy that has grown by more than 5% a year since 2000.
Just last year, luxury developer Vinhomes JSC raised up to $1.
This is the largest ipo in Vietnam's history, with a financing scale of $4 billion, while the financing scale of Vietnam technology and commercial Joint Stock Bank is just under $1 billion.
Vietnam's average daily turnover is $0. 156 billion, and its liquidity dwarfs Myanmar ($33,090).
To manage the $3 billion Auggie in Asia
JP Morgan's Pacific Equity, Vietnam's success has attracted interest in other cutting-edge markets.
She said on the phone that "we are definitely interested" in investing in Myanmar.
But she says regional fund managers like her need to be satisfied with the management of cutting-edge markets and other standards.
Myanmar first investment Public Company Yangon
As a listed company of the local tycoon Serge Pun's corporate group, GM is keen to welcome foreign investors.
Tun, chief operating officer of FMI, said he had talked to the stock exchange about how to achieve this. FMI was the first company to be listed in YSX in 2016.
The exchange has yet to respond, he said.
Regarding the outlook for this year, Tun said: "I pray that we will see how it is.