Southeast Asia plans electronic stock link in 2010

Southeast Asia plans electronic stock link in 2010

SINGAPORE, Feb 23 (Reuters) -

The stock exchanges of Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines said on Monday they hope to set up an electronic trading link next year to improve the competitiveness of their equity markets.

"This e-trading link, through one single access point, allows intra-ASEAN cross-border trading and will attract more international funds into ASEAN," the Singapore Exchange (SGXL.SI), Bursa Malaysia (BMYS.KL), Indonesia Stock Exchange, Philippine Stock Exchange and the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) said in a joint statement.

The five bourses are currently in the process of evaluating a technology platform for the proposed e-trading link, SET President Patareeya Benjapolchai said in the statement.

"The e-trading link is expected to go live next year," she added.

ASEAN -- which groups Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia, Laos and Brunei -- was a popular investment destination for Western and Japanese firms but the region has been overshadowed by China and India in the past decade.