The Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam said that it plans to establish the US$300 million Viet Nam Investment Fund No2 to be operational by the first quarter of next year.

The fund comes in the wake of the former $100 million fund, established in 2006 by the Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam (BIDV) and a US partner.

"The plan is part of BIDV’s efforts to become a multi-functional financial group, providing diversified services such as securities trading, financial leasing, infrastructure investment and capital fund management," Tran Anh Tuan, a member of the bank’s board of directors, said.

The bank was working to further promote service packages related to securities, securities reposession, pre-payment of securities, bank supervision and shareholder list management.

The State-owned bank is also taking steps to establish an industry and energy fund totalling $700 million, expected to be licensed in early 2008.

"BIDV did not want to miss any chances after foreign financial experts predicted such great potential in the Vietnamese stock market," Tuan said.

The bank is expected to issue shares by June of next year and to debut on the HCM City Stock Exchange at that time.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has encouraged the bank to hasten preparations to become a financial group by the end of this year.

BIDV has co-operated with domestic industrial giants such as PetroVietnam, the Viet Nam Post and Telecommunication Group, the Viet Nam Coal and Mineral Industries Group, Viet Nam Shipping lines and Vietnam Airlines to set up a leading national conglomerate.

The conglomerate will focus investment towards energy, electricity, industrial park infrastructure, mining and transport.