A Chinese investor, interested to make huge investment here, has sought approval of the government of Bangladesh to set up an economic zone.On receiving a proposal in this regards, the Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA) has requested the Chinese investor for coming through the Chinese government.If approved, this will be the second initiative of Chinese investors to set up economic zones as the government of China has already signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with BEZA to establish an EZ at Anwara in Chittagong. BEZA sources said that China National Machinery Import and Export Corporation (CMC), a global leader in engineering contractor, project management contractor, and automotive supply chain service provider has submitted proposal with BEZA to allocate them an economic zone to invest here. “We have asked the company to come through the government of China and now they are working for Chinese government’s approval”, a BEZA official said. According to BEZA sources, the Chinese government through its China Harbour Engineering Company Limited is working to establish an economic zone at Anwara in Chittagong. The economic zone styled ‘Chinese Economic and Industrial Zone (CEIZ)’ will be established on 774 acres of land, said a BEZA official expecting that the CEIZ will generate employment for around 4 lakh people.
According to information, BEZA has been conducting primary feasibility study on establishing the CEIZ while the China Harbour is also working on assessing the prospects of establishing the zone there, it was learnt. BEZA officials said, after the feasibility study, they will sit with the Chinese Harbour to settle the ownership pattern and other related things, said BEZA sources. The government plans to attract more foreign direct investment (FDI) here by establishing the economic zones, said Moloy Chowdhury, General Manager of BEZA. “Not only Chinese companies, many Japanese and Indian investors are also interested to establish economic zones in Bangladesh,” he added. Mentionable, the Bangladesh government is planning to set up a total of 100 economic zones at different parts of the country by the year 2030 with a view to catch more foreign investment and generating employment at a large scale. The economic zones will be set up on 75,000 acres of land the under the supervision of the BEZA. BEZA has already get approval for 37 economic zones including five in Cox’s Bazaar and three in Chittagong district. For this, BEZA has already acquired around 6,000 acres of land for different economic zones.
