Bepza economic zone eyes $10b investment
The Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (Bepza) is establishing an economic zone at the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Shilpa Nagar (BSMSN) to diversify exports.
The agency will emphasise the electronic and spare parts manufacturing industries keeping in mind the fourth industrial revolution and job creation.
"The new zone will be different from the existing zones of the Bepza as we will not give priority to the apparel industry," said Md Nazrul Islam, executive chairman of the Bepza.
The planned economic zone will be an EPZ inside the BSMSN in Mirsarai of Chattogram. Investors will have to sell 90 per cent of the products to be manufactured in the international markets, and the rest could be sold in the domestic market following customs and other rules.
Islam said the new zone would attract at least $10 billion in investment and employ five lakh people.
There are eight EPZs under the Bepza across the country.
A total of 476 industrial units have for been set up in the EPZs. Of them, 300 units are textile and related accessories factories, 32 footwear plants, 19 electronics and electrical goods factories, 13 plastic goods factories, 13 tent-producing units, and 11 are service-oriented industries.
The factories so far attracted $8 billion investment and have created around 4.5 lakh jobs. They shipped products worth about $6.5 billion in the fiscal year 2019-20, down from $7.2 billion a year ago because of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
The EPZs account for a fifth of the total export receipts for Bangladesh.
The development work of the Bepza economic zone began in 2018. The Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (Beza) will hand over 1,150 acres of land at the BSMSN to the Bepza on May 30.
Paban Chowdhury, executive chairman of the Beza, said the land was almost ready for setting up factories. "The Bepza economic zone will be the biggest economic zone in the country."
Of the 539 plots planned at the zone, 140 will be initially up for grabs, and they will be ready for investment by September, Islam said. The size of the plot will be 3,600 square metres each.
The rest of the plots would be available at different stages within 2023.
The economic zone will consist of industrial plots, standard factory building area, water treatment plants, central effluent treatment plants, transfer stations, power hubs, incinerator, central warehouses, container depot, mega kitchen, hospitals and daycare facilities.
The plots are equipped with adequate road facility, utility services such as water, gas, electricity, telephone, and effluent collection network.
The Bepza is also developing facilities such as investors' residence and club.
"Investors will be able to ship products directly from the zone as all required services provided by stakeholders such as banks, customs, and ports would be available inside the zone," Islam said.
Khondaker Golam Moazzem, research director of the Centre for Policy Dialogue, said there was no doubt that the establishment of the economic zone by the Bepza would create jobs and boost exports.
He suggested the Bepza allocate plots to real investors so that factories could go into production immediately. It should not allot plots to traditional product manufacturers to ensure export diversification, he said.
Zahid Hussain, a former lead economist of the World Bank's Dhaka office, however, said there was no need for any separate zone for the Bepza as there might be a coordination gap between the two agencies.
Islam said the shipment from the factories in the EPZs might hit $8 billion in the current fiscal year.
The EPZs have alleviated poverty through employment generation and setting up of backward and forward linkage industries and created new business scopes in the surrounding areas of the estates.
The Bepza would allocate a maximum of 15 per cent of plots at the new zone to the apparel industry, down from about 33 per cent in existing zones.
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