Finance Division has expressed its inability to entertain a proposal from Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA) to provide a Tk420 crore fund for an economic and industrial zone for Chinese investors. The division said that as it is now busy preparing mid-term budget, financing the project is difficult. It requested BEZA contacting Planning Commission to manage the fund from the Revised Annual Development Programme (RADP). Funds will be collected from development project being implemented at slow rate, which is supposed to be justified by the planning commission officials. Finance Division came up with the observation in a letter after BEZA sought Tk420 crore interest-free fund for land acquisition to set up Chinese Economic and Industrial Zone (CEIZ) on a 774-acre land in Anwara, Chittagong. “Where do we get money? We do not have money and so, it’s not possible for us to fund the project,” Mahbub Ahmed, senior secretary to finance division, told the Dhaka Tribune. Earlier in September 2015, Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) approved the proposal for establishing an exclusive economic and industrial zone for Chinese investors, which is scheduled to be completed by June, 2016. Bangladesh is providing the land to Chinese investors on a long-term lease basis and Chinese government nominated firm – China Harbour Engineering Company Limited (CHEC) – got appointed to develop the zone. The move to set up an exclusive economic zone was taken immediately after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, during her visit to China in 2014, had proposed an industrial zone in Bangladesh for Chinese investors.
