Site selection delays building of Sylhet SEZ

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Mohammad Jubair Hasan
The setting up of a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Sylhet has remained uncertain for long due mainly to delay in selection of a site by the government for this public-private partnership economic enclave.
The Board of Investment (BOI) had selected a place for the SEZ in Sylhet, but Bangladesh Investment Climate Fund (BICF) of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in a feasibility study found the area not viable for such zone because of its environmental and structural problems.
The BICF conducted the pre-feasibility study after it was commissioned by the Board of Investment (BOI) in 2008, which is entrusted with finding site for the SEZ in greater Sylhet district.
It suggested the BOI to look for an alternative site but BOI is yet to find any place for the SEZ, sources said.
Located about five kilometers south of Sylhet, the total area of the site is 389 hectares (961 acres) and the area is comprised of lowlands, wetlands and small rolling hills, as well as a lake and four rivers.
Talking to the FE, senior official of BICF Syed Akhtar Mahmood said they had submitted report of the pre-feasible study to BOI in July last year stating that the site would not to be viable due to potential delay in land acquisition and higher capital costs.
The BICF recommended BOI that the government should select several new sites in Sylhet or elsewhere in the country for the SEZ. "But we have not received any feedback from them since the submission of the report," said Akter Mahmood.
"We think that at least three or four sites can be selected for preliminary assessment. If preliminary assessment finds those sites suitable only then pre-feasibility study can be carried out," he said.
He said establishment of such a zone is very important for every country. Many foreign and local investors are going away for not having appropriate place for their investment and as a result, Bangladesh is losing a huge amount of revenue each year.