Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA) will prioritise time-bound development of five government-managed economic zones (EZs) over the next two years, aiming to ensure desired industrialisation in the country, its Executive Chairman said on Tuesday.
"We are officially announcing that we would prioritise development of five EZs in a focused way," Chowdhury Ashik Mahmud Bin Harun said.
This is important to meet industrialisation demands for the next five to ten years, he said, adding: "We are not discarding the other EZ, but we would now focus on these five EZs,"
The five EZs are National Special Economic Zone, Srihatta Economic Zone, Jamalpur Economic Zone, Maheshkhali Economic Zone and Japanese Economic Zone.
The BEZA chief made the announcement at a press conference held its office in the city's Agargaon area.
"We believe there is no need to establish 100 economic zones (EZs) in the country at this time," he said, adding that if 10 EZs become fully operational over the next 10 years, the objectives of the EZ initiative will be successfully achieved for the development of Bangladesh.
Chowdhury Ashik said that after assuming his role as the Executive Chairman, he consulted with BEZA's stakeholders to reach some decisions.
He expressed the hope that successful development of the five zones in the next two years would help attract 133 investors.
He gave a presentation on the time-bound plan, outlining that utility connections and road links would be provided to these five zones by 2026. This development is expected to attract $5.5 billion in investments and create 230,000 additional jobs.
Highlighting the BEZA's achievement so far, the Executive Chairman said currently 19 EZs are now being developed or operational, which has hosted 122 industrial units at different phases of their construction or operations.
"BEZA has already allocated more than 7,000 acres of land to investors and generated 45,000 direct jobs in the EZs," he noted.
Highlighting the steps to strengthen investor confidence, he said BEZA is now making realistic commitment so that investors can also implement their working plans.
Investors who have received land allocations but failed to start activities are now being encouraged to begin work towards setting up industrial units, he said.
"If these investors are unable to start development work in accordance with our plans, then they are requested to return the land," he said, adding that they have also started achieving success.
There are also plans to establish EZs on the land of non-functional jute mills and sugar mills, he said, adding that there is also plan to use BEZA-owned lands effectively until they are transformed into EZ.
"We have started conducting a feasibility study as part of our plan to implement a solar power project on unused land owned by the BEZA," he said.
Top officials of the BEZA were present at the press conference.
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