Earlier this month, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust announced an injection of US$12 million into Vietnam Enterprise Investment Ltd (VEIL), Vietnam’s largest investment fund.
According to VnExpress, the foundation increased its stake in VEIL to 11.34%, or US$88 million. It is now the largest shareholder in the fund, which is run by Dragon Capital. VEIL has total assets worth $900 million and was listed on the London Stock Exchange in July. It holds shares in major Vietnamese corporations such as Vinamilk and Vietcombank.
The move by the Gates Foundation, the world’s largest charitable fund, indicates confidence in the Vietnamese stock market. Created in 2000 by Bill Gates, one of the founders of Microsoft, and his wife Melinda, the foundation currently holds nearly US$40 billion in assets.
Funds come largely from the Bill & Melinda Gates Trust and a US$17 billion endowment from Warren Buffett, the prominent American philanthropist and stock market tycoon.
[Photo via Flickr user OnInnovation]
