The quest for global capital: Vietnam eyes MSCI upgrade as Indonesia fights downgrade risk

Latest review shows Asean markets are judged on how easily global capital can get in and out

Published Wed, Jun 24, 2026 · 09:05 PM

Indonesia and Vietnam have fared very differently this year, with the Jakarta Composite Index slumping nearly 30% and the VN-Index rallying around 5%. IMAGE: BT VISUAL

[JAKARTA/HO CHI MINH CITY] South-east Asia’s quest for global capital is increasingly being defined by two sharply diverging stories.

Global index provider MSCI’s latest market classification review, unveiled on Wednesday (Jun 24), kept Indonesia’s emerging market status unchanged but said the country remains under evaluation.

It could also face a downgrade to frontier market status if reforms fail to gain traction before November.

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