Industrial zone for light engineering on cards

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Jasim Uddin Haroon
The country's light engineering sub-sector is mulling to set up an exclusive private industrial zone in Dhaka to tap the potentials of the emerging business.
Bangladesh Engineering Industry Owners Association (BEIOA) at its recent meeting approved the concept.
Sources at the BEIOA estimated that the project will cost around Tk 600 million for land procurement and development of infrastructure.
About 200 BEIOA members, agreed in principle, to form a public limited company subscribing Tk 300,000 each to implement the project. Banks might finance other costs, they added.
BEIOA sources claimed that the project might be implemented by June next as they had already earmarked 50 acres of land at Bhera at Keraniganj in Dhaka for the purpose.
The industrial zone will have more than 200 industrial plots apart from display centre, training centre, conference room, mosques and other logistics.
The BEIOA has more than 5000 members across the country and they are exporting a number of products contributing to the country's foreign exchange.
The products which have high demands abroad are crushing machines, bicycle, spare parts of shallow engines, carbon rod of dry cell batteries, pistons and so on.
The sub sector earned US$ 12.51 million in 2002-03, $ 41.47 million in 2003-04, $ 85.20 million in 2004-05 and $ 111.20 million in 2005-06 fiscal.
It earned $ 173.47 million over the past nine months, according to the EPB sources.
The light engineering industrial units are producing agricultural products like power tiller and spare parts, irrigation pumps, crank shaft, automobile components like bracket, accelerator, oil expeller, marine parts like bush.
It is also producing a number of parts for the textiles, jute and tea, food processing, construction, capital machinery and furniture industries.
The sub sector is also contributing towards import substitution of goods thus saving a substantial amount of foreign exchange.
While talking to the FE, BEIOA president Abdur Razzaque said they are now talking with the lawyers to make a draft for the proposed public limited company.
He said: "The implementation of the park would enhance our export basket and we will be able to install modern machines at the units to manufacture competitive products".
Besides, it is expected that the project once implemented would provide employment to around 5000 workers.
BEIOA chief said he has seen such clusters for manufacturing light engineering products in Vietnam, China and Japan.
"Our machines are old and we are working with obsolete technologies. Our concerted effort might create pathways for accessing formal financing " added BEIOA chief who is also director of the FBCCI .
According to a study, 80 per cent firms have no formal financing although 64 per cent intended to borrow money.