RMG park construction starts in Sept

The government will start construction of a RMG industrial park in Munshiganj in September, as the Chinese construction firm concerned submitted its feasibility report to the government on Tuesday.
"We hope to start construction work of the proposed garment industrial park at Baushia in Munshiganj from September," Ministry of Commerce senior secretary Hedayetullah Al Mamoon told the FE.
Earlier, the Chinese firm - Orient International Holding Company - handed over the feasibility study report to the government for building the ready-made garment (RMG) industrial park at a cost of US$ 2.3 billion.  
President of Orient International Tang Xiao along with a delegation of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) handed over the report to Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed at his secretariat office on the day.
The move for building the park is a joint venture initiative of BGMEA and the Chinese government.  
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between BGMEA and Orient International on June 10, 2014 during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit in China.
Following the MoU a framework agreement was signed between the two sides on December 13. Subsequently, the feasibility report was prepared over the last five months.   
The RMG industrial park will be built on 492 acres of land, and it will have 300-500 factories, with a capacity to export products worth $ 4 billion. It will help create employment of 250,000 workforces.
If everything goes according to the plan, the industrial park construction will be completed within the next four years.  
The park will have all required facilities for investors and employees with uninterrupted supply of power, water and gas as well as adequate car parking facility. BGMEA president Md Atiqul Alam said once the industrial park starts operation, it will tremendously help increase the country's RMG export.
Bangladesh, the world's second largest RMG exporter after China, needs huge FDI along with local investment to emerge as a middle-income country by 2021, according to experts.
The investment needs to be increased by 10 per cent, from 28 per cent to 38 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), they opined.
They also said Bangladesh now has 5.11 per cent share in the global RMG market, which was 2.56 per cent in 2000. As a garment exporter the country has overtaken Turkey and India in 2000.
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