Muhith's stance makes Ershad to stand against him.

"I don't understand why the names of those who devastated hundreds of thousands of small investors by looting money from the share market won't be made public officially."Jatyia Party chairman H M Ershad, a key ally of the ruling alliance, says he is surprised as the finance minister declined to disclose the names of those responsible for the recent share market debacle.

Hours after the stocks probe committee submitted the report to the finance minister on Thursday, Muhith declined to disclose the names that were mentioned in the report since the committee has recommended further investigation.

The deposed military dictator urged the government to give exemplary punishment of those responsible for the stocks crash and compensation for the investors who suffered the losses.

"The government will be in trouble if anyone responsible for the stocks debacle goes unpunished," he said.

Dhaka is seeking investment from Bangkok.

The MCCI chief said Dhaka and Bangkok should cooperate with each other both bilaterally and multilaterally. Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Abdul Hafiz Choudhury said,Thai investments have excellent future as Bangladesh offers most attractive incentives for investing in energy sector.

"Bangladesh requires US$5 to $7.0 billion (500 to 700 crore) investments in generation and distribution of 7,000 megawatt of electricity by the end of 2011," he said to a Thai business delegation visiting Bangladesh.

Mr Hafiz said the Thai government will find attractive opportunities in the energy sector as the Bangladesh government has initiated large projects under public-private partnership (PPP).

Dhaka has established itself as the cheapest production base in South Asia and Bangkok can take the advantage of it, he said. "Thai investors can invest in labour intensive sectors including textiles, leather, paper and pulp, tourism, agro-based and agro-supporting industries," he added..