Japanese automobile giant Honda is going to set up a motorcycle assembling and manufacturing plant early next month in the country.
The company will lay foundation stone of the unit in November in the in privately-owned Abdul Monem Economic Zone at Gazaria in Munshiganj.
But the size of the investment has not been disclosed by the authorities yet.
Talking to the FE, executive chairman of the BEZA Paban Chowdhury said that Honda is expected to lay the foundation stone on November 5.
"It is one of the large investments in the country's economic zones," he said.
Currently, the company has a joint-venture assembling plant in Gazipur with the state-owned Bangladesh Steel and Engineering Corporation (BSEC).
The industry will be shifted to the zone with its manufacturing plant.
Abdul Monem has allocated 25 acres of land to the company for establishing the plant.
Japan has selected Abdul Monem zone as its suitable investment location.
BEZA has been working to develop a separate special zone for Japanese investors in the light of a commitment by the Bangladesh government, said Mr Chowdhury.
The authority has already selected 500 acres of land at Araihazar in Narayanganj for a special zone dedicated to Japanese investors.
BEZA executive chairman said that land acquisition for the Japanese special economic zone is going on in full swing.
ASM Maniuddin Monem, deputy managing director of Abdul Monem Limited, said it was a big achievement to convince the large investors to move into the zone overcoming all odds.
"We have offered a big discount to Japan for attracting the investment in the zone," he said. There would be a positive impression among the foreign investors and it would be a "flagship" investment, he added.
"We need cooperation from the authorities concerned to encourage and build confidence among the investors," he added.
Zoning is a model for economic growth and helps address a flurry of challenges such as scarcity of land, infrastructural weakness and legal and regulatory hurdles, he said.
Such zones have also some infrastructural challenge including getting cheaper land, power plant, water system, waste management, central effluent treatment plant (CETP), jetty etc, he added.
One-stop service is necessary to ease the investment process, he added.
"We have made investment having encouraged by Prime Minister. Now, the system has to work," he added.
Industry insiders said that Bangladesh can be a lucrative place for investment in motor cycle manufacturing plant due to lower tax structure on the item.
In the budget for current fiscal year, the government announced an incentive package for local manufactures of motor cycle.
A draft national motor cycle policy is also under way with the target of producing 1.0 million motor cycles in the country by 2027.
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