Shenzhen, Dhaka bourses’ joint index by Dec

The Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE) will launch a joint index in cooperation with the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), comprising well performing companies, by the end of this year to increase Chinese investment in the capital market of Bangladesh.

"We have taken an initiative to introduce a joint index, comprising well performing companies, in cooperation with the DSE to attract more Chinese investments in Bangladesh's capital market," Liu Fuzhong, one of the directors of the SZSE, told a group of Bangladeshi journalists.

He said this after the inaugural session of a two-day programme - 'The 3rd China-Bangladesh Capital Market Cooperation Seminar' - in Shenzhen on Thursday.

The seminar, hosted by the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, was held at the SZSE. V-Next, Asian Tiger Capital Partners, and Kingdom Technology are its co-organisers.

The Chinese consortium of the SZSE and the Shanghai  Stock Exchange became a strategic partner of the DSE in May last year. Since then the SZSE has been working to develop local capital market.

Mr Liu said Bangladesh capital market has lots of potentials for Chinese investors. They have opportunities to further tap potentials of the DSE, and to deepen cooperation among the capital markets of China and Bangladesh.

President of the SZSE Wang Jiajun said, "The SZSE became a strategic partner of the DSE in May last year. We set up a special taskforce immediately to work with the DSE."

He noted that since then major breakthroughs have been made in many aspects, such as - technological upgradation, development of SME market, and cross-border capital matching.

"The first work is to build a capital market matching platform. The V-Next platform of the SZSE brings together a large number of high-quality Chinese enterprises. It is an important platform to serve the formation of innovative capital."

"We have launched the Bangladesh window on V-Next, and we are currently promoting more cooperation between the market participants in the two countries by building a localised service system," he added.

The DSE also introduced V-Next platform in cooperation with the SZSE in this October. It is an online space that matches investors with investment-seekers and their SME platform.

The DSE chairman Abul Hashem said Bangladesh is giving substantial efforts to maintain macro-economic stability, strengthen revenue mobilisation, tackle energy and infrastructure deficits, support an expanding financial sector and external trade reforms, and improve existing labour skills.

"We need to utilise the untapped capital market to accelerate infrastructure development, economic development, and overall socio-economic development of Bangladesh."

The DSE chairman also informed that the bourse is keen to set up new platforms for expansion of the local capital market to create opportunities for investors to diversify their investment.

A seminar on cross-border investment with China-BD fund managers was also held on the occasion.

Ifty Islam, chairman of Asian Tiger Capital Partners, focused on Bangladesh Economy and Fintech overview to the Chinese investors.

The DSE director Minhaz Mannan Emon and the DSE Brokers Association (DBA) president Shakil Rizvi, spoke in the seminar, among others.

Some 80-member delegation from Bangladesh capital market, including representatives from the DBA, merchant bankers, IT companies and mutual funds, are taking part in the programme in Shenzhen.

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