They also urged the government to take steps to get public limited firms enlisted on the bourses.

They were addressing the 10th founding anniversary ceremony of Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) in the port city on Friday.

With CSE President Habibullah Khan in the chair, former commerce minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, also the founding president of CSE, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Dr Mirza Azizul Islam and immediate past CSE president Mirza Salman Ispahani were present at the function.

The speakers also stressed the need for turning the SEC into a self-financed and independent authority. In this regard they emphasised the importance of strengthening the SEC with skilled and adequate manpower and setting up securities training institutions.

Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury said with some noteworthy achievements like introducing automated trading system within three years of its formation and launching internet trading system (ITS) nine months back, CSE has become an indispensable institution in the Bangladesh capital market.

He hoped that South Asian Federation of Exchanges (Safe), formed in 2000 comprising bourses from South Asia, would help cross-border listing and trading take place soon.

Mirza Azizul Islam said at the initiative of CSE a steering committee has already been formed to set up a capital market institute in the country.

Habibullah Khan called for enlistment of public and multinational companies in the capital market and suggested for divesting some state-owned enterprises like Bangladesh Biman.

He felt the government should take the issue of enlisting foreign firms with due consideration as the share index -- on which the foreign direct investment largely depends -- could not rise so far up to the expected level due to non-enlistment of large multinational companies operating here.

CSE officials said a two-day 'Capital Market Fair' will begin tomorrow at Hotel Agrabad in Chittagong to make people aware of share trading.

The CSE on the occasion awarded five top brokers -- ICB Securities Trading Company Ltd, Lanka Bangla Securities Ltd, International Securities Company Ltd, National Securities and Consultancies Ltd and MRM Securities Ltd -- for their sound performance in trading.