The government has offered 1,145 acres of land in attractive locations for establishing two separate economic zones for large-scale investors from China and Japan and sought financial assistance from those countries to develop the special economic zones. A key official of Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA) informed that 635 acres of land was primarily selected at Gohira near Karnaphuli Fertilizer Company (KAFCO) under Anwara upazila in Chittagong for Chinese investors while land will be provided at Sreepur in Gazipur for establishing the proposed economic zone for Japanese investors. BEZA Capacity Building Project Director Md Harunur Rashid told daily sun that all the land of the proposed sites is not owned by the government, so the government has sought financial assistance from China and Japan to establish the economic zones. “Parts of the proposed sites will have to be purchased from private owners. As BEZA is a newborn dedicated agency of the government, it doesn’t have the financial capacity to purchase the land right now. So, we sought repayable financial assistance from them in form of soft loans or interest-free credit. Negotiations are continuing in this regard and hopefully we will get positive results,” the BEZA official said on Wednesday. He also said the China Harbour Engineering Company, which is carrying out dredging at Mongla port sites, has been maintaining correspondence with BEZA in regards to setting up the proposed economic zone for Chinese investors. “The company is representing the Chinese government to discuss the matters relating to financial assistance to set up the economic zone at Gohira,” he said, adding, “We have sought the same assistance from Japan to set up another economic zone at Sreepur. We are continuing discussions in this regard as well.” The BEZA official said during the visits of the Chinese and Japanese prime ministers to Dhaka, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has pledged to provide dedicated land to their investors for establishing industries here. According to reports, China and Japan in recent years have been carrying out diplomatic efforts to get land in some specific locations in Bangladesh for their investors to set up industrial units. Many investors of both the countries are looking for best sites abroad to expand their industries. Bangladesh is also looking for foreign direct investment (FDI) and decided in principal to provide incentives including long-term tax holiday and infrastructure facilities to foreign investors to attract more FDI. To materialize the target, the incumbent government also created a dedicated authority to provide necessary support to the foreign investors. The BEZA is one of such authorities to provide one-stop services to the foreign investors. BEZA has taken initiatives to set up 22 economic zones by the year 2020 and 100 economic zones by the year 3030. Meanwhile, BEZA has got response from a local private company to set up an economic zone for both local and foreign investors near the Mongla port. The private firm proposed to finance all the necessary infrastructural development of the economic zone. Bangladesh currently has eight Export Processing Zones (EPZs) in Ashulia (Dhaka), Chittagong, Narayanganj, Ishwardi, Uttara, Comilla, Mongla and in Karnaphuli. Over the last one decade, the country’s annual export has soared to $30 billion with the readymade garment industry being the highest export earning sector.
