Muhammad Yunus Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus on Monday asked Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (BEPZA) to build a team for economic diplomacy, project the image of Bangladesh abroad and thus attract more investment for the country's industrial sectors.
The chief adviser told the BEPZA officials to collaborate with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to this end. He came up with the call when BEPZA submitted its annual report for the 2023-24 financial year at his office in the city, said a spokesperson of the CA Office.
He also asked them to engage Bangladeshi students studying abroad, especially in China and Japan, to help investors overcome language barriers before making investment choices.
BEPZA Executive Chairman Major General Abul Kalam Mohammad Ziaur Rahman said that they are already receiving positive responses from investors following the July-August uprising.
"In the past three weeks, we have received a US $135 million investment proposal from the Chinese investors. Talks are underway for more investment," he told the chief adviser.
He said that currently eight export processing zones are operational in Bangladesh, housing 452 factories. On the other hand, 136 more factories are now under construction in the zones.
Of the factories, 52 per cent produce ready-made garment items, textile items, and garment accessories. The remaining factories are multifarious, producing miscellaneous items such as coffins and toys.
Major General Zia informed the chief adviser of some of the demands from the investors, including uninterrupted gas and power supply, bonded warehouse facilities in the BEPZA areas, Chattogram-Sanghai direct air connectivity, and visa counsellor service in the Chinese city of Shanghai.
Chief Adviser Professor Yunus asked the authorities to explore the possibility of setting up solar power plants in export processing zones, work on gas exploration and develop a distribution system. He also asked the authorities to see if Bangladesh can benefit from importing energy from neighbouring countries.
Special Envoy to the chief adviser Lutfey Siddiqi, who was present on the occasion, put emphasis on targeted economic diplomacy. He said that the government will work on developing an integrated power distribution system to enable industries to receive more power from existing plants in the countries.
Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) Chairman Ashik Chowdhury said that Bangladesh should incentivise the investors making investment in export processing zones. "We should make BEPZA and BEZA more attractive and promote the facilities available in the areas across the globe to bring more investment," he said.
Principal Secretary to the chief adviser Md Siraj Uddin Miah was also present at the meeting.
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