DHAKA: The government has allocated three economic zones to the investors of China, Japan and India in a bid to attract more foreign investment and generate employment, an official said yesterday.
Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority has already acquired 510 acres of land at Sreepur upazila in Gazipur for Japanese investors and 774 acres at Anwara upazila in Chittagong for Chinese entrepreneurs, said BEZA Executive Chairman Paban Chowdhury.
The government is in talks with Indian investors for selecting a site for their economic zone, he said, adding that lands will be handed over to the investors of the three countries soon. The investors will then develop the lands into economic zones, he said.
Chowdhury shared the plans at a discussion at the office of Canada Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CanCham) in Dhaka.
He said Bangladesh needs investment worth $35 billion a year to attain an 8 percent year-on-year economic growth and graduate to a middle-income country by 2021.
“This is why the government has taken the initiative to build the economic zones to attract more foreign investment.”
Since 2010, the government has decided to offer 22 economic zones to both local and foreign investors.
The BEZA has so far issued operational licences to two private investors — AK Khan Group and Abdul Monem Ltd. Another local conglomerate, Meghna Group, is in the process to get two economic zones, Chowdhury said.
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