A total of four companies, three foreign and a local, are set to invest $50 million in Bepza Economic Zone of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Shilpa Nagar (BSMSN) in Mirsarai, Chittagong.
This investment will generate some 23,453 new jobs for Bangladeshi employees, said Bepza officials.
They signed the land lease agreements with US company Campex (BD) Limited, Chinese company Fengqun Composite Material Company Limited, Sri Lankan company Univogue Garments and Bangladeshi company TexTrim Labels (BD) Limited, during an event held at its headquarters in Dhaka on Saturday.
Dr Ahmad Kaikaus, principal secretary to the prime minister, was the chief guest at the event marking the first land lease agreements for Bepza EZ.
Maj Gen Abul Kalam Mohammad Ziaur Rahman, executive chairman of Bepza, presided over the land lease ceremony program.
According to Bepza, they will be allotted some 18 plots of 63,271 square metres at the Bepza economic zone.
According to the agreement, US company Campex (BD) Limited will invest $10 million and produce 5 million pieces of camping equipment, Chinese enterprise Fengqun Composite Material Company Limited will invest $2.2 million to make 3.5 million tonnes of shoe accessories and packaging items, Sri Lankan company Univogue Garments will invest $36.49 million to manufacture apparel products, while TexTrim Labels Limited with invest $1.27 million to produce 11,717 tonnes of garments accessories and paper coverage items.
As per Bepza officials, this economic zone will be different from the other ones, spanning an area of 1,150 acres.
About 350 industries will be set up in 539 industrial plots and the economic zone will create employment for about 400,000 people and attract investment of about $4 billion.
The EZ will be a green industrial zone with nature & productivity where there are multiple CETP, WTP, power plant, green lab, mega kitchen, modern zone, service complex, officers & staff dormitory, investor’s club, ansar & security barracks, security and customs building.
Md Hafizur Rahman, project director of Bepza economic zone, highlighted its various aspects.
He said that the EZ will consist of 539 industrial plots of 36,000 sq m with all the necessary amenities and utilities.
Rahman also said that there will also be 200 flats for investors, residential buildings, investor clubs, and dormitories.
There will be a central water reservoir, two treatment plants, four CETPs and a sewage treatment plant for rainwater harvesting, he added.
The EZ project director also said that demands for 643 plots have been received from 81 industrial institutions against 539 plots, while 160 ready plots have been allotted to 19 of them.
Maj Gen Abul Kalam Mohammad Ziaur Rahman, executive chairman of Bepza, said that leasing land to four industrial establishments for the first time in Bepza EZ is undoubtedly a big achievement.
Bangladesh is gradually shifting from an agrarian economy to industrial economy and export earnings are increasing, he added.
He also said that establishing 100 EZs is a landmark plan of the prime minister and Bepza EZ is a part of that plan.
Since its inception, Bepza has contributed immensely to attracting foreign investment and developing the industrial sector through the establishment of EPZ and Bepza is capable of establishing a technologically advanced, environmentally friendly, socially secure and labour-friendly economic zone, he added.
Ahmad Kaikaus, principal secretary to the prime minister, said that Bangladesh was continuously expanding its economic frontiers.
He also said that domestic and foreign investors are now investing in EPZs and EZs in the country and the establishment of EPZs in different parts of the country has brought about unprecedented changes in the socio-economic structure of those regions.
The establishment of Bepza EZ will further boost the economic activities of the BSMSN, he added.
At the signing ceremony, Beza executive chairman Sheikh Yusuf Harun, Bangladesh EPZ Investors Association (BEPZIA) president SM Khan, among others, were also present.
