Speakers at a programme on Friday identified expansion of the capital market base across the country without creating awareness among the investors as one of the key factors for the 2010 share market debacle.
Besides, the people engaged in the share market activities, including brokerage houses, merchant banks and issue managers lack adequate knowledge and professionalism to deal with the emerging stock market issues, they observed.
Their observation came at an inaugural ceremony of a training programme on "Capital Market Research," which is being organised by Accounting for Capital Market Development (ACMD) at the Faculty of Business Studies, University of Dhaka (DU).
Prof Dr. Abul Kalam Azad Chowdhury, former chairman of University Grants Commission (UGC), was the chief guest at the inaugural ceremony, which was addressed, among others, by Faruq Ahmad Siddiqi, former chairman of Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC), Prof Shibli Rubayat Ul Islam, dean of the Faculty of Business Studies, Dhaka University (DU), Prof Md Abdul Hakim at the Department of Accounting and Information Systems, DU, and Dr. Mizanur Rahman, associate professor of the department.
ACMD is a research project under Academic Innovation Fund (AIF) of the UGC and the World Bank.
The three-month training comprises of 14 modules. Its participants include corporate executives, academics and capital market journalists.
Mr Chowdhury said that the capital market is not (appropriate) for everybody but it was spread every nook and corner of the country.
The former UGC chairman also said that the market depends on accountancy, which is closely related to the accountability and transparency.
Laying stress on arranging such training, he said, "The society will benefit from the training programme."
"The spreading of capital market base throughout the country without preparing the people was a basic mistake for the 2010 debacle," Mr Siddiqi said.
Mr Siddiqi also underlined the need for having professionalism and efficiency of the people handling the brokerage houses, merchant banks, issue management and mutual fund etc.
To this effect, he stressed on arranging the training programmes. "But this didn't happen."
He also said, "Both the 1996 and the 2010 share market debacles were manmade. …both could have been avoided."
Mr Siddiqi further said that despite the lower cost fund at the capital market comparing to the bank loan, the people were not going to avail the opportunity in the share market.
Rather, they were going to the bank for access to its loan facility, he said.
Unless, the private sector investment rapidly increased, the economic growth would not be accelerated and the capital market would not be developed, he added.
Partnerships and collaborations of the training programme are the World Bank, the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE), the Bangladesh Merchants Bankers Association (BMBA), The Financial Express and the Capital Market Journalists Forum (CMJF).
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