KEPZ responds to Muhith's statement

The Korean Export Processing Zone Corporation (BD) Ltd has responded to Finance Minister AMA Muhith's comments on its failure to use land. The Daily Star published a report on the issue on Monday under the headline: “KEPZ failed to use land: Muhith justifies govt plan to take back part of it”.

Following is the full text of the statement signed by Jahangir Saadat, president of KEPZ:

Our attention has been drawn to a news item under the caption “KEPZ 'failed to use land.' Muhith justifies government plan to take back part of it” published in your esteemed daily on the 22nd of September 2014, attributing a comment to honourable AMA Muhith, the finance minister of Bangladesh, defending a plan to take back part of Korean EPZ (KEPZ) land alleging lack of its use for implementing the project.

On taking over possession of the land from the government in 1999, Korean EPZ (KEPZ) has not been sitting idle. It is developing the land befitting a modern industrial park and has already completed 18 factory buildings covering an area of 2.5million sft and including roads, power lines etc. Work on additional 11km of power line and 4 million sft of factory building is underway.

Youngone Group, who are the sponsors of KEPZ, and as a measure of their continuing commitment towards promoting foreign investment and industrialisation in Bangladesh have themselves set up several industries in KEPZ, which are operating in full swing. These industries are manufacturing and exporting shoes, bags, textiles, garments, etc upon employing 7,000 workers. 

The key to KEPZ investment and subsequent development hinges on the execution of the Deed of Transfer and mutation of the acquired land in favour of KEPZ. This has not yet been done even after 15 years and remains the biggest obstacle to implementing the project.

On October 7, 2010, the 16th meeting of the Board of Governors of the Private Export Processing Zone presided over by the honourable prime minister finally took a decision to immediately execute the Deed of Transfer and mutate the land in favour of KEPZ subject to fulfilment of certain conditions by KEPZ, which KEPZ immediately complied with. Unfortunately, the directive remains unimplemented till date.

 It seems to us that the considerable handicaps created for the sponsor company in the implementation process of KEPZ project have been overlooked by the honourable finance minister, which may have led to the comments attributed to him. What the honourable finance minister is perhaps not aware and does not say is the apathy and deliberate delay by the authorities in resolving regulatory measures without which it would be impossible to make KEPZ fully operational.

In a meeting with a delegation from the Korea-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce with the honourable finance minister on 24th January 2012 at his Secretariat office, we were greatly inspired by his remarks both in the meeting and while talking to journalists that he was fully apprised of the KEPZ issues and his first and foremost task would be to help remove the hurdles confronting KEPZ and make it fully operational in the shortest possible time.

We are disappointed that his latest statement in the newspapers which is supposed to have been made by him contradicts his earlier views.