Pvt economic zone policy finalised

The authorities have finalised the private economic zone policy, which will allow individuals to set up such zones across the country, official sources told the FE.
The officials concerned are hopeful about the removal of the difficulties that are encountered while anyone trying to set up an economic zone.
Sources said due to the absence of such a policy, the construction of many private economic zones is being delayed for long.
Construction of at least two private economic zones-the AK Khan Private Economic Zone at Narsingdi and the BGMEA Special Economic Zone at Baushia at Munshiganj-is being delayed mainly due to the absence of an official policy in this regard.
Nurunnabi Mridha, executive member (planning and development) at the Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA) told the FE that the policy would facilitate the establishment of private economic zones in the country.
He said the policy will require approval of the BEZA government body and the preparation for holding the next meeting of the government body is now on.
Mr Mridha said the BEZA will work as the regulatory body in respect of private economic zones.
"We'll not intervene much… just like any other regulatory organisation ..,"he said.
According to the policy, there will be no lower and upper limits of land areas for setting up private economic zones.
The investors in the zones will enjoy the same incentives as entrepreneurs of the export processing zones do.
The interested builders or developers for private economic zones will have to apply to the BEZA for licenses.
Three types of industries - service sector, goods to be produced for domestic and export purposes - will be allowed in the private zones.
Md Moniruzzaman, manager (investment promotion) at the BEZA told the FE that there would be no more bottlenecks in setting up private economic zones after approval of the policy. He said the BEZA will issue licenses and approve master plans to be submitted by interested developers of such types of economic zones.
Mr Moniruzzaman said the primary selection in respect of establishment of AK Khan and BGMEA Economic Zones was made much earlier by the committee headed by the executive chairman of the Board of Investment (BoI).
The land area of the proposed AK Khan Private Economic Zone is 200 acres while that of the BGMEA is 500 acres.
"We have failed to issue any license in their favour simply because of the absence of a policy," Mr Moniruzzaman said.
He said investors from China and Japan have also applied to them for such type of economic zones for investment in setting up different types of manufacturing units.
The parliament passed the Bangladesh Economic Zones Act in 2010 allowing four types of economic zones. But so far, not a single zone has been readied for investment.