Beza to award final licence to Meghna

Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority or Beza will award a final licence to Meghna Group of Industries today to operate the economic zone that it built in Sonargaon to attract investments from home and abroad.

This will be the first licence that is being given to a private sector economic zone, as Meghna Group has completed all the requirements, including an environmental impact assessment, feasibility study and prepared a master plan in line with a prequalification licence.

Paban Chowdhury, executive chairman of Beza, will hand over the licence for Meghna Economic Zone at a programme in Dhaka.

An economic zone is a designated area in a country with special regulations that differ from the rest of the country. An entrepreneur can enjoy benefits, including tax incentives by setting up an industrial unit in an economic zone.

The Meghna Economic Zone is one of the two economic zones being developed by Meghna Group at Sonargaon in Narayanganj.

The zone is situated on 245 acres of land on the bank of Meghna river close to the Dhaka-Chittagong highway. The economic zone will create more than 20,000 jobs.

The zone is suitable for industries like pulp and paper, tissue paper, sanitary napkin, baby diaper, PVC plant, oil refinery, flour mill, power plant, petrochemicals, ceramics and LPG plant.

The work of another zone -- Meghna Industrial Economic Zone -- that is being developed on about 100 acres is going on in full swing.

Beza has so far awarded pre-qualification licences to eight local private companies to set up 10 economic zones.

The government is also setting up four economic zones in the public sector.

Bangladesh plans to develop 100 such zones by 2030 on 75,000 acres to create jobs for one crore people and produce products and services worth $40 billion.