Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA) is now working on developing a marketing strategy to attract private developers to the zones the government planned to establish for creating jobs and accelerating growth.
The feasibility studies for three of the sites - Sherpur in Sylhet and, Mirershorai and Anowara in Chittagong – have been nearly completed.
“The studies will be used as a tool for attracting private zone developers to those sites,” said the World Bank, which is supporting Bangladesh in association with UK-DFID and IFC to develop the zones.
Although delayed, in a statement issued yesterday, it informed about progress in some key areas of the project the government undertaken as a strategic instrument for attracting domestic and foreign investment, creating jobs and accelerating growth.
Under the project titled Private Sector Development Support Project (PSDSP), the development partners also provide support to the Jobs and Competitiveness Task Force established by the Prime Minister in March 2013.
The Task Force decided in a meeting on February 5 at the Prime Minister’s Office to create a Special Action Team to shore up the capacity of the BEZA and to add three members to the Task Force from the ministries of commerce, finance and industries.
The World Bank said a proposed economic zone in Mongla requires the land for the site to be transferred to BEZA, for which the organisation is urgently seeking a de-notification of the zoning from the municipality.
Meanwhile, it said, the Hi-Tech Park Authority (HTPA) is in the process of re-tendering the development of the Kaliakor Hi-Tech Park.
The authorities, however, continues to construct infrastructure for the project such as the perimeter and internal road system which are projected to be completed by July of this year.
It is also preparing Jessore IT Park bids for the construction of the multi-tenanted building for private management and a long list of potential projects in Khula, Sylhet, and Chittagong.
Both the HTPA and BEZA are in the final stages of hiring transaction advisors to coordinate the entire process of preparing the tenders for the zone projects in their pipeline. “This will serve to streamline the process of developing zones for both organizations,” said the World Bank.
Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (BEPZA) is spearheading a Green Zone initiative under the project, measuring the greenhouse gas (GHG) emission baseline in the EPZs and converting its street lighting to solar, among other GHG reduction strategies.
Key activities for the coming months will be obtaining approval for a Development Project Proforma (DPP) to allow BEZA to construct last-mile infrastructure for zones and the final approval for the EZ Rules under the EZ Act 2010.
