Developer soon to build Kaliakoir Hi-Tech Park

The government is going to appoint a developer to start construction of a part of the long-delayed multi-million-dollar Kaliakoir Hi-Tech Park (KHTP), officials said.
They said an agreement will be signed  tomorrow between Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority (BHTPA) and Summit Technopolis Ltd. to start development of block II and V of the total 5 blocks of KHTP that spread across 232 acres of land, reports BSS.
The signing of agreement with Fiber@Home, a local company, will be held within a couple of weeks as the company has won the bid to develop 40 acres of block III, they said.
As per the draft agreement, the joint venture of local Summit Technopolis Ltd of Summit Group and Infinity Infosys Parks Ltd will invest a total of $207.59 million (20.75 crore) to construct Multi-Tenant Building (MTB), convention centre, hotel, custom infrastructure, warehouse and develop industrial area in the block II on 62 acres of land.
It will also develop an industrial area, build water treatment plant and sub-station in the block V on 29 acres of land of KHTP, the agreement said. "Hi-Tech Park is our dream project, which was delayed for 14 years due to legal problems. Finally, we are going to sign an agreement with Summit Technopolis Ltd to build block II and V of KHTP after the resolution of the legal issues," said State Minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak who took the KHTP on the list of ICT Division's priority projects for implementation immediately after assuming office on 12 January 2014.
He said the government is committed to building the Kaliakoir Hi-Tech Park, which was undertaken in 1999 during the tenure of Awami League government to build on a Public Private Partnership (PPP) basis.
"It will be a specialised economic zone and lifeline of the country's IT sector. A world-class business environment will be created for the local and foreign investors in the KHTP," he added.
According to an officila, of the 232 acres of land around 98.9 acres would be developed as roads and open areas based on international industry norms and the remaining area will turn into around 14.51 million square foot of space, which will be used for commercial, residential and other amenities purposes.
ICT Secretary Shyam Sunder Sikder said the Hi-Tech Park will be an attractive location for developing the country's IT and IT-enabled services sector, especially the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO).
"We are moving ahead with a duel strategy to attract investments through Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and provide state-of-the-art facilities to the Bangladesh based IT/ITES Industry," he said.
Managing Director of Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority Hosne Ara Begum said the agreement between the government and Summit Technopolis Ltd will be signed for 40 years, which can be extended for another 20 years and Summit is among the seven firms that submitted proposals to the ICT Division in April.
She said the BHTPA has divided the 232 acres of land into five blocks keeping one block in hand and the rest up for tender.
If implemented, the KHTP will create opportunity 60,000 IT professionals to be employed, Hosne Ara added.