Summit signs hi-tech park deal with govt
The government yesterday signed an agreement with Summit Technopolis to part-develop the hi-tech park in Kaliakoir.
Summit Technopolis, a joint venture between local Summit Group and India's Infinity, will construct and develop two of the five blocks of the 232-acre park. At the agreement signing event, officials of Summit Technopolis said big multinational companies are keen to invest in the two blocks.
“International companies such as General Motors and Siemens are in touch with us. There will not be any delay in developing the site,” said Abu Reza Khan, managing director of Summit Technopolis.
The company's marketing team is working with the interested parties from abroad, he added. Summit Group holds a 90 percent stake in Summit Technopolis and the Indian company 10 percent.
The hi-tech park, which would be turned into a world-class specialised economic zone for hi-tech products, has been divided into five blocks.
The Indo-Bangla joint venture will develop block No. 2 and 5, which span over 65 acres and 29 acres of land respectively, on a design, finance, own, operate and transfer basis.
Summit Technopolis will invest $114.56 million for block-2 and $93.03 million for block-5.
The company will have to start construction of the physical infrastructure of the two blocks within three months and complete the whole development work within 10 years, according to the deal.
The developers will have to start handing over a part of their physical infrastructure within the next two years so that they can be leased out to ICT companies.
Summit Technopolis will finalise a design this week and will go for the construction work as soon as possible, Khan said.
A deal will be signed soon with Fiber@Home for block No. 3 soon, said Hosne Ara Begum, managing director of Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority. The block is spread across 40 acres.
The tender evaluation is ongoing for block No. 4, which is located over 36 acres, she added.
The authority has set aside block No. 1, which spans across 65 acres, for its own use.
The government is hopeful of creating 60,000 new jobs in this park in ten years.
“We hope the hi-tech park will change the economy of the country,” Zunaid Ahmed Palak, state minister for ICT, said at the signing ceremony.
The project is as part of the government's efforts to move the country toward a digital economy.
Initiated in 1999 by the Awami League government, the hi-tech park project was not continued by the subsequent government. The project got a fresh lease of life in 2009, when the AL returned to power.
Nasrul Hamid Bipu, state minister for power; Shyam Sunder Sikder, secretary of ICT Division; and Muhammed Aziz Khan, chairman of Summit Group, were also present.