Printing estate on way soon

The government is going to set up an exclusive industrial park for the printing industry in Munshiganj in a bid to spur the sector's expansion.
“We will develop the printing estate on the banks of Dhaleshwari River to help the sector grow in a planned way,” said Shyam Sunder Sikder, chairman of Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC), which would develop the park on nearly 50 acres of land at Sirajdikhan upazila.
A memorandum of understanding was signed on this with Bangladesh Mudran Shilpa Samity (BMSS) at its head office in Dhaka yesterday.
“It is a memorable day for us as we are finally getting a permanent address,” said Shahid Serneabat, chairman of BMSS, which represents more than 1,000 printing companies.
The project will be a public-private initiative, with BMSS footing 90 percent of the project cost and the government the rest, according to Serneabat.
The estate will be home to 419 printing companies, all of which are members of BMSS, and employ around 17,000 people.
The companies will print textbooks and make accessories (price tags and labels) for the garment sector, medicine boxes for pharmaceutical companies and packaging for frozen food industry.
BSCIC will develop the plots ranging from 2,600 to 6,000 square feet, together with the infrastructure such as road, drain and culvert, power and gas connection. The government has set a four-year deadline for the project's completion.
“It is an emerging sector for Bangladesh,” said AFM Shah Alam, general secretary of BMSS, adding that its market size stands at around Tk 3,000 crore a year.
Around 7,000 printing companies, including small and medium enterprises, are in operation across the country, employing around 2 lakh directly and indirectly, according to the BMSS general secretary.
Last year, over 24 crore pieces of academic textbooks worth around Tk 600 crore were printed, and products worth Tk 1,000 crore were indirectly exported, he said. “The local companies even participated in international tenders.”
The sector is being held back by the acute shortage of land, especially in Dhaka, needed to set up modern printing presses, he said.
"We have been urging the government to set up the park for several years now for the development of the sector. Finally, our wishes were answered."

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