B Mirror Report : To overcome the prolonged shortage of quality shares and restore investor confidence in the stock market, the government has taken an initiative to list 10 large state-owned and multinational companies. As part of this process, Finance Adviser Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed will meet with the top executives of these companies today, Wednesday (7 January). The meeting has been arranged mainly to encourage these profitable companies to offer their shares to the stock market.

A senior official of the Financial Institutions Division (FID) told ShareNews that, “Among the 10 companies initially selected for listing, some are fully state-owned, while others are multinational companies in which the government holds a minor stake. The adviser will hear directly from the heads of these companies about what incentives or policy support they would need to come to the market. Bringing profitable state-owned enterprises to the market as quickly as possible is one of the government’s key priorities.”

The companies invited to the meeting include Karnaphuli Gas Distribution Company, Karnaphuli Fertilizer Company (KAFCO), North-West Power Generation Company, Pashchimanchal Gas Company, and Sylhet Gas Fields Limited. Among the multinational companies are Unilever Bangladesh, Nestlé Bangladesh, Syngenta Bangladesh, Sinovia Bangladesh, and Novartis (Bangladesh) Limited. These companies will be requested to offload shares through the Investment Corporation of Bangladesh (ICB).

Market experts believe that the extreme volatility of recent years and the loss of confidence among general investors are mainly due to the lack of fundamentally strong, quality shares in the market. According to statistics, in 2024 the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) was among the worst-performing markets globally. In the 2025 fiscal year as well, the DSE’s main index lost around 351 points, or 6.7 percent, and market capitalization declined by approximately BDT 36,000 crore.

In this context, the listing of blue-chip companies such as Unilever or Nestlé is expected to ease the liquidity crunch and revive investor sentiment. Essentially, to address the shortage of quality IPOs, the government is now directly knocking on the doors of profitable companies.