Besides government entities, a big telecom company, Grameenphone, very recently announced that it is working to list the country's leading mobile phone operator on the local stock market.

Along with the companies, some private companies are also in the pipeline to float primary shares in the bourse.

"When both the public and private companies get listed on the DSE, we expect a $15 billion market capitalisation," DSE Chief Executive Officer Salahuddin Khan told a press conference on the bourse premises yesterday, which was organised to convey the media on the outcome of the just concluded first-ever international investors' conference in the capital city.

Presently, the DSE market capitalisation is $5.93 billion.

The investors' conference, according to the DSE authorities, has opened a door for Bangladesh's capital market to receive investments from the foreign fund managers.

They said foreign institutional investors showed keen interest to invest in pharmaceuticals, financial services and textile sectors through the capital market.

In addition, the sectors like telecom, power, energy and cement are also some areas these fund managers want to invest in.

A total of 36 representatives from 17 foreign institutions including world reputed Morgan Stanley, Fidelity Investments, Sumitomo Mitsui, Smith Management, Aberdeen Asset Management and First State Asset Management took part in the two-day meet on investment to learn about Bangladesh's economy and its potential capital market.

"Earlier the foreign institutional investors had no clear idea of Bangladesh and its growing capital market. Now they went back home having a positive knowledge about this country and its untapped stock market," the DSE CEO said.

He said the foreign investors assured him of conveying what they have learnt from the Dhaka conference to other investors in their countries.

If the present growth in the capital market can be maintained, the market would surely grow further, Salauddin quoted the foreign investors, who attended the international conference, as saying.

Aiming to promote foreign investment in Bangladesh and showcase the country's potentiality to the foreign investors, globally acclaimed financial services company Citigroup and Dhaka and Chittagong stock exchanges jointly organised the conference titled 'Bangladesh - The New Investment Frontier' that ended Friday.

Salahuddin said Bangladesh failed to tap the huge potential due to negative image in different segments.

"The conference was the first step towards changing the negative images as well as attracting more foreign investment here," he said.

As part of the initiative, the DSE will organise road-shows abroad on the country's capital market, such as the USA, UK and UAE, especially for luring the non-resident Bangladeshis to invest in the capital market, he added.

Among others, DSE President Abdullah Bokhari and Senior Vice-president Ahmad Rashid Lali spoke at the press conference.