Govt to set up SEZ Authority by year-end to boost investment
Naim-Ul-Karim | Monday, 25 August 2008
The government is set to establish a Special Economic Zone Authority by year-end to speed up local and foreign investment in the newly-fashioned industrial parks, an official said Sunday.
The chief advisor's office is now scrutinising the final draft of a proposed 'Special Economic Zone Ordinance-2008' under which the authority would be created, Board of Investment (BoI) executive member Abu Reza Khan said.
"The proposed ordinance has already been approved in principle by the council of advisers," he added.
The ordinance is being expedited after the advisory council led by chief adviser Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed last month okayed creation of a SEZ in Sylhet.
The government has said it would develop several SEZs across the country to woo investment in the country's manufacturing sector.
The SEZ, the first of its kind in the country, will be modeled after similar 'successful' zones located in China, Vietnam, South Korea, Dubai and Jordan.
Unlike the existing publicly owned and managed export processing zones (EPZs), an SEZ will be larger in scale and be linked to the domestic market.
The BoI executive member said the special economic zone authority would oversee the development and plot allotments in the SEZs, to be established on public-private partnership.
An official said site for the first SEZ is being searched in greater Sylhet district in line with the demand from the expatriate Sylheties.
Expatriate Sylhetis- who dominate the nearly $10 billion dollars curry business in the United Kingdom-- have long been seeking an exclusive industrial zone in Sylhet.
He, however, said the SEZ will be developed such a way that "it can cater to the needs of investors. Otherwise, it is sure to face the same fate like the BSCIC-built industrial estates".
The Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC) set up industrial zones in almost all the district towns in the 1980s but hardly managed to lure any investment.
The proposed ordinance was drafted after interactions with SEZ authorities in other countries and representatives of local and foreign chambers and export oriented trade bodies, Reza added
When contacted by the FE, an official close to the CA Office said: "The ordinance will come into force soon to help establish the SEZ authority at least within the tenure of the caretaker government.
He could not say exactly when the authority would be approved by the advisory council.
Experts say the spillover effects --in the form of job creation, investments, transfer of management skills and technology -- of SEZS will be much greater than the traditional industrial parks such as EPZs.
Bangladesh set up its first EPZ in 1983 and since then its eight EPZs have netted over $1.5 billion in investments, although they cost the government millions of dollars in tax and fiscal benefits.
The EPZs now host more than 283 industrial plants, which have created jobs for 220,000 workers. Their payments are far higher than national average.
These factories last year exported US$2.43 billion last year, or around 20 per cent of the country's annual export.
The chief advisor's office is now scrutinising the final draft of a proposed 'Special Economic Zone Ordinance-2008' under which the authority would be created, Board of Investment (BoI) executive member Abu Reza Khan said.
"The proposed ordinance has already been approved in principle by the council of advisers," he added.
The ordinance is being expedited after the advisory council led by chief adviser Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed last month okayed creation of a SEZ in Sylhet.
The government has said it would develop several SEZs across the country to woo investment in the country's manufacturing sector.
The SEZ, the first of its kind in the country, will be modeled after similar 'successful' zones located in China, Vietnam, South Korea, Dubai and Jordan.
Unlike the existing publicly owned and managed export processing zones (EPZs), an SEZ will be larger in scale and be linked to the domestic market.
The BoI executive member said the special economic zone authority would oversee the development and plot allotments in the SEZs, to be established on public-private partnership.
An official said site for the first SEZ is being searched in greater Sylhet district in line with the demand from the expatriate Sylheties.
Expatriate Sylhetis- who dominate the nearly $10 billion dollars curry business in the United Kingdom-- have long been seeking an exclusive industrial zone in Sylhet.
He, however, said the SEZ will be developed such a way that "it can cater to the needs of investors. Otherwise, it is sure to face the same fate like the BSCIC-built industrial estates".
The Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC) set up industrial zones in almost all the district towns in the 1980s but hardly managed to lure any investment.
The proposed ordinance was drafted after interactions with SEZ authorities in other countries and representatives of local and foreign chambers and export oriented trade bodies, Reza added
When contacted by the FE, an official close to the CA Office said: "The ordinance will come into force soon to help establish the SEZ authority at least within the tenure of the caretaker government.
He could not say exactly when the authority would be approved by the advisory council.
Experts say the spillover effects --in the form of job creation, investments, transfer of management skills and technology -- of SEZS will be much greater than the traditional industrial parks such as EPZs.
Bangladesh set up its first EPZ in 1983 and since then its eight EPZs have netted over $1.5 billion in investments, although they cost the government millions of dollars in tax and fiscal benefits.
The EPZs now host more than 283 industrial plants, which have created jobs for 220,000 workers. Their payments are far higher than national average.
These factories last year exported US$2.43 billion last year, or around 20 per cent of the country's annual export.