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Korea's bourse operator said it signed a preliminary deal Wednesday (Sept. 19) to help Laos set up a stock market and promote listing of state-owned firms in the Southeast Asian country on the Seoul equity markets.

The deal calls for the Korea Exchange (KRX) to support establishing a joint-venture stock market exchange with Laos' government, with the aim of opening it by 2010, the exchange said.

It also said shares of some state-run companies in Laos will be listed on the Seoul bourse as part of such efforts.

"We believe that the efforts to expand our presence into Asian emerging markets will help us achieve our goal of becoming a financial hub in Northeast Asia," the KRX said in a statement.

The move comes about five months after the KRX sent a team to Laos in a bid to explore possibilities to set up a stock market there and push for listing of state-owned firms on the Seoul markets. The KRX has been pushing to lure foreign companies' listings in a bid to develop into a global bourse operator.

The KRX has helped two countries in Southeast Asia including Vietnam and Cambodia to set up stock exchanges, it added.

Source: http://www.kois.go.kr/News/News/NewsView.asp?serial_no=20070919023&part=103