10 Major Firms Set to Enter Capital Market to Restore Investor Confidence

DHAKA : In a landmark move to deepen the liquidity of the country’s capital market, the government has agreed in principle to offload shares of ten highly profitable state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and multinational companies.

The decision was finalized during a high-level meeting at the Ministry of Finance on Wednesday, chaired by Finance Adviser Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed. The initiative aims to address the long-standing issue of market depth and bring fundamentally strong stocks to the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE).

The government has identified an initial batch of 10 companies for listing, including both state-run energy firms and global multinational subsidiaries. The list includes:

Unilever Bangladesh Limited, Nestlé Bangladesh PLC, Syngenta Bangladesh, Novartis (Bangladesh), and Sinovia Bangladesh.

Karnaphuli Gas, Sylhet Gas Fields, North-West Power Generation, Pashchimanchal Gas, and KAFCO.

Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed emphasized that the stock market has stabilized within a legal framework, but now requires high-quality “blue-chip” shares to regain public trust. “To regain confidence, we have decided that shares of good, fundamentally strong government companies should be offloaded,” the Adviser stated.

A significant portion of the discussion centered on multinationals like Unilever, where the Bangladesh government holds a 40% stake. Abu Ahmed, Chairman of the Investment Corporation of Bangladesh (ICB), questioned the delay in listing these firms.

“If Nestlé can be listed in Bombay (Mumbai), what is the problem here?” he remarked, noting that these companies are already listed in neighboring markets like Pakistan and Thailand. He suggested a “carrot and stick” approach: offering tax incentives for those who list, and potentially increasing taxes for those who remain private.

Addressing past failures to list SOEs, Dr. Salehuddin noted that the current initiative has official ministry-level approval, moving further than any previous attempt. While multinationals require board-level approvals from their global headquarters, the Bangladesh government has issued a “clear message” that the public interest must come first.