Salman F Rahman (R), adviser for private sector development to Bangladeshi prime minister, addresses the roundtable discussion on "Bangladesh-China Capital Markets" held in Dhaka, capital of Bangladesh, on May 15, 2018. The Roundtable, which has been designed to facilitate the exchange of ideas and experiences in the field of share market matters, was attended by high-level participants from the government, regulators, representatives from Bangladeshi and Chinese premier bourses, financial institutions, economic experts and journalists. (Xinhua)

DHAKA, May 15 (Xinhua) -- A roundtable discussion on "Bangladesh-China Capital Markets" was held in capital Dhaka on Tuesday.

The Roundtable, which has been designed to facilitate the exchange of ideas and experiences in the field of share market matters, was attended by high-level participants from the government, regulators, representatives from Bangladeshi and Chinese premier bourses, financial institutions, economic experts and journalists.

Notable speakers at the roundtable included Faisal Ahmed, chief economist of Bangladesh Bank, Liu Fuzhong, director of International Department of Shenzhen Stock Exchange, Ifty Islam, chairman of AT Capital, Edmund Chan, managing director and head of M&A at CITIC CLSA Securities, and He Jibao, Research Institute Director of Shenzhen Stock Exchange.

The round-table discussion with Zaidi Sattar, Policy Research Institute (PRI) chairman, in the chair with remarks from Wang Jianjun, General Manager of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE) and Salman F Rahman, adviser for private sector development to Bangladeshi prime minister, Ahsan H Mansur, PRI executive director.

PRI, a leading Bangladeshi think tank, in collaboration Shenzhen and Shanghai Stock Exchanges organized the roundtable discussion a day after a Chinese consortium comprising the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE) and the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) signed an agreement with Bangladesh's Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) to acquire 25 percent stake in the country's premier bourse and became its strategic investor.

The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) recently approved DSE's proposal to sell 25 percent of its stake to the Chinese consortium.

The BSEC approved the DSE's strategic partnership, fixing each of 450,944,125 shares at a price of 21 taka (0.25 U.S. dollars), the regulator said on its website.

DSE's hunt for a strategic partner came as it turned into a demutualized stock exchange on Nov. 21, 2013.

SZSE and SSE received DSE's tender invitation in July 2017.

A DSE official told Xinhua earlier that in consideration of all the aspects, the proposal of the Chinese consortium was the best offer in terms of value and technical support.

The bidding process also involved Indian, U.S. and Turkish exchanges.

According to a statement released by the Shenzhen bourse, the Chinese consortium's bid to become strategic partner of DSE would support the development of the Belt and Road Initiative and cooperation along the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor.

It said the Chinese bourses would cooperate with DSE on trading technology, market and product development.