The government is going to take up a project involving Tk 4347 crore to develop the infrastructure of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Industrial City.
The project titled ‘Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Industrial City’ will be placed for approval at the next ECNEC meeting, a planning commission official said.
The Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA) at the initiative of the Prime Minister's Office will implement the project, he added.
A senior official of BEZA is working to create 100 economic zones with about 10 million employment opportunities across the country for economic development through industrialization.
As per the decision at the first meeting of BEZA Governing Board chaired by the Prime Minister, work is underway to set up the country's largest economic zone on about 30,000 acres of land in Mirsarai and Sitakunda upazilas of Chattogram and Sonagazi upazila of Feni, he said.
It will be a business hub, he said adding, this industrial city will encourage rapid economic development through increase and diversification of industry, employment, production and export.
Paban Chowdhury, executive chairman of BEZA, told Bangladesh Post, “Among all the economic zones, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Industrial City is the unique one. Really it is a vast industrial city. All kinds of heavy industries are being set up here.”
This will create massive investment and employment opportunities, he said adding, we are determined to complete the infrastructure development work of the industrial city within the stipulated time.
If it is implemented, at least 1.5 million people will be employed here, he mentioned.
However, the project proposed with the help of project loan from the World Bank, for various infrastructural development in Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Industrial City, mainly in Zone-2A (939 acres) and other zones surrounding Zone-2 (474 acres).
Under the project, installing 30 km four lane road, water supply and sewerage system, electricity and gas network, safety fence administrative building, CETP, desalination plant, steam network, biogas plant, solar panel and waste management plant will be constructed there.
According to BEZA, the company received an investment of $3.98 billion in the Corona pandemic last year.
Of this, the share of domestic entrepreneurs is $ 348 billion, or more than 87 percent of the total offer.
The highest number of investment proposals came for Bangabandhu Industrial City in Mirsarai, Chattogram.
The highest investment proposals came from China, India, Australia, the Netherlands, Korea, Singapore and the United Kingdom.
Many foreign commercial companies including Berger Paints UK, Jiangsu Yabang Dyestuff Company Limited, Jihong Medical Products (BD) Company Limited and CCCC Bangladesh Limited of China, Ramky Enviro Services Pvt Ltd Worldwide, Australia's Tech Limited, Netherlands' Tiktiki Sports BV and Singapore's Inter-Asia Group Limited, along with world-renowned companies like HA, Fortis Group, a joint venture between Germany and India are going to start their activities there soon.