Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus on Monday asked Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (BEPZA) to promote Bangladesh abroad and bring more investments to the country’s industrial sectors.
"Create a team for economic diplomacy and promote Bangladesh abroad," Chief Adviser's Deputy Press Secretary Abul Kalam Azad Majumder quoted Dr Yunus as conveying to the BEPZA officials, asking the body to collaborate with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the purpose.
The Chief Adviser issued the directive when BEPZA submitted its annual report for the 2023-24 financial years to him at his office at Tejgaon, Dhaka.
He also asked BEPZA officials to engage Bangladeshi students studying abroad, especially in China and Japan, to help investors overcome language barriers before making investment choices.
BEPZA Executive Chairman Major General Abul Kalam Mohammad Ziaur Rahman said that they are already receiving positive responses from investors following the July-August uprising in Bangladesh and the repeatedly changing global political landscape.
"In the past three weeks, we have received a USD $135 million investment proposal from the Chinese investors. Talks are underway for more investments," he told the Chief Adviser.
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He said that currently eight export processing zones are operational in Bangladesh, housing 452 factories.
There are 136 more factories currently under construction in the zones.
Among the operational factories, over 100 are owned by the local investors, and the rest are mostly joint ventures.
Of the factories, 52 percent produce ready-made garment items, textile items, and garment accessories. The remaining factories are multifarious, producing miscellaneous items such as coffins and toys.
Major General Zia informed the Chief Adviser of some of the demands of the investors, including uninterrupted gas and power supply, bonded warehouse facilities in the BEPZA areas, Chattogram-Sanghai direct air connectivity, and visa counsellor service in the Chinese city of Shanghai.
Chief Adviser Dr Yunus asked the authorities to explore the possibility of setting up solar power plants in export processing zones and work on gas exploration and develop a distribution system.
He also asked the authorities to see if Bangladesh can benefit from importing energy from neighbouring countries.
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Special Envoy to the Chief Adviser Lutfey Siddiqi, who was present on the occasion, put an emphasis on targeted economic diplomacy.
He said that the government will work on developing an integrated power distribution system to enable industries to receive more power from existing plants in the countries.
Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) Chairman Ashik Chowdhury said that Bangladesh should incentivise the investors investing in export processing zones.
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"We should make BEPZA and BEZA more attractive and promote the facilities available in the area across the globe to bring more investments," he said.
Principal Secretary to Chief Adviser Md Siraj Uddin Miah was also present in the meeting.