BIDA, BEZA and BEPZA, the investment magnets of Bangladesh.
Bangladesh’s special economic zones are becoming an engine of the future GDP’s growth, taking advantages of Government incentives and dedicated infrastructures.
NEWSBANGLADESH NEWS
2020 and 2021, even impacted with Covid-19, brought USD 21.2 billion investments to Bangladesh.
Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA), the apex investment promotion agency, attracted itself almost USD 15 billion with more than half from local investors.
Bangladesh middle class is expected to reach 25 percent of the population by 2025 and 33 percent by 2030, expanding the affluent consumers of the country to 62 million by then.
One of BIDA’s key achievement is the integration in a “single-window facility” of 18 government agencies, making it very easy for investors to get and do almost everything in a single place: getting government approvals, land acquisition, power, and utility connection, paying fees and bills to 56 different entities…
Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA), created in 2010, are establishing economic zones in underdeveloped regions to diversify and increase employment, services, industries, and exports.
The Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Shilpa Nagar (BSMSN), the newer of the nine zones, have a total land area of 136 km2 on which 539 industrial plots are planned. 140 plots are already prepared as 78 companies applied for 250 plots. Japan has already reserved 50 plots.
Those planned investments represent USD 1.35 billion, and this March, the first factory opened, “Asia Paints” an Indian-Bangladesh joint venture have invested USD 40 million and employed 200 workers. They were joined late March by “Hikvision”, one of world’s largest surveillance equipment, opening its factory.
Some dedicated zones are planned inside BSMSN, like the newly agreed Indian Economic Zone (IEZ) of 347 hectares and costing USD 115 million.
Another such dedicated zone is the Japanese Special Economic Zone (SEZ) at Araihazar in Narayanganj, slated to begin by 2025. This USD 300 million financed 80 percent by Japan and 20% Bangladesh, started in 2019 and shall attract the majority of new Japanese investments.
Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (BEPZA) are export oriented zones and being developed in many regions of the country.
Some existing brands being manufactured in BEPZA are Adidas, Nike, Reebok, H & M, Gap, Walmart, Kmart, J.C. Penney, Lee, Dockers, Tommy Hilfiger, Nikon, Fuji, Konica Minolta, Fuji, Sony, Nissan, Mitsubishi…
The recent signings are for example “Campvalley Chittagong” with a USD 54 million investment to build a factory that will produce annually 21 million pieces of camping equipment and employ 9 300 workers, or “Ms Goodwood” a Canadian Chinese owned factory that will produce annually 10 000 tons of wooden disposable cutlery (knives, forks, spoons, stirrers) and wooden medical product (swabs, tongue depressors).
The variety in the products being manufactured in those zones is extremely large and demonstrates the availability of affordable skilled workers in Bangladesh.
https://www.beza.gov.bd/economic-zones-site/government-owned-sites/mirsorai-chittagong/
https://newsonair.com/2022/04/03/bangladesh-signs-deal-with-adani-group-for-indian-economic-zone/
https://www.bepza.gov.bd/content/brand-product-made-in
https://www.bepza.gov.bd/recent-activities
https://www.tbsnews.net/economy/campvalley-chittagong-invest-54m-bepza-economic-zone-390686