The government has decided to exempt tax on land development in the proposed economic zones across the country to attract more investment. The Land Ministry issued a gazette recently regarding the tax exemption on land development in the economic zones . The government is planning to set up a total of 100 special economic zones at different parts of the country by the year 2030. The gazette said the tax exemption has been offered under the jurisdiction referred in the sub-section (1) of section 13 of Bangladesh Economic Zones Act-2010, the Land Development Tax Ordinance, 1976. The government has also exempted the tax, toll and fees imposed by local government bodies for the investors in the economic zones of the respective areas. The government has offered the package under the section 65 of Local Government Union Parishad Act 2009 referring to the section 13 of Bangladesh Economic Zones Act-2010. In a separate letter issued by Local Government, the Rural Development and Cooperatives Ministry published a gazette in this regard. Moloy Chowdhury, General Manager of Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA), told daily sun that along with the other incentives, tax exemption on land development will be a lucrative opportunity for local and foreign investors in investing in the economic zones. “It’s a huge opportunity for investors. It would help attract more investment in the economic zones across the country,” he said. BEZA Executive Chairman Paban Chowdhury also termed the tax exemption on land development as an opportunity for the economic zones as well. He said the government has been offering a range of incentives packages, including tax and vat waiver for local and foreign companies to build economic zones here as part of the efforts to fetch large-scale investment. The economic zones will be set up on 75,000 acres of land under the supervision of Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA). BEZA has already selected 59 economic zones while got approval for establishing 46 economic zones in different parts of the country.Some economic zones are ready for development work from the end of this month.
