Japan's Sumitomo Corporation, one of the biggest corporate entities in the world, has put on hold its multi-billion dollar investment plan for developing a mega industrial park in Bangladesh primarily because of a land crisis.
It wanted 200 acres of land near the Dhaka city for the purpose, sources said.
The Japanese Group wrote to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) nearly one year back. Later, they met with the high-ups of the Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA).
The Tokyo-based company was formed in 1919 and its annual turnover is nearly Yen 8.0 trillion.
"The Japanese group wanted land desperately. But we failed to meet their demand in respect of land near the Dhaka city," said manager (promotion) at the BEZA Md Moniruzzaman.
It is believed that a considerable number of jobs might be created, if the Japanese Group set up their plant in the country.
"In my view, their plan for investing in the country has now become uncertain and this is primarily due to the land crisis," he said.
The BEZA, however, had requested the Sumitomo Corporation to construct their industrial park either in Manikganj or in Chittagong.
"We also asked them to construct the park at Anowara or Mirersharai in Chittagong," said a BEZA official.
But he said the Corporation did not respond to the request.
The Japanese Group, however, did not disclose their investment plan.
Sources hinted that it wanted to build industries in multi sectors ranging from textile to high-tech products.
The Japanese Group is mainly involved in Sogo Shosha that means general trading companies.
Sogo Shosha may be better described as a business philosophy than with a visual model.
The world's seven largest Sogo Shosha are: Mitsubishi Corporation, Mitsui & Co., Sumitomo Corporation, Itochu, Marubeni, Toyota Tsusho and Sojitz.
Combined, they maintain approximately 1,110 offices in over 200 cities around the world and employ more than 20,000 highly trained specialists, (individuals with, on an average, over fifteen years of experience).
BEZA sources said they along with the Sumitomo officials had visited Aricha in Manikganj.
"Probably, they were not convinced after the visit to our site at Aricha. They have not been contacting us for the past six months," said a BEZA official.
The Sumitomo supplies a large volume of raw materials from large manufacturers or wholesalers to the smaller distributors and retailers.
On the other hand, they act as an international sales force for medium- and small-sized companies without the ability to market and maintain distribution channels overseas.
Sumitomo was registered in 1919 in Tokyo.
The firm got listed its shares for public trade on the Osaka, Tokyo and Nagoya stock exchanges.
Japan\\\'s Sumitomo holds back on mega industrial park plan
Jasim Uddin Haroon | Published: February 26, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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