According to the agreement, the Sumitomo Corporation will have 76% stake while the remaining 24% will be held by Beza
Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (Beza) has signed a joint venture agreement with Sumitomo Corporation of Japan for the development of an exclusive economic zone for Japanese investors at Araihazar upazila in Nayaranganj alongside Dhaka-Syhet Highway.
The signing ceremony took place at Hotel InterContinental Dhaka on Sunday.
According to the agreement, the new economic zone will be developed on 1,000 acres of land of which the government has already acquired 500 acres in phase-1 while the remaining 500 acres are under the land acquisition process as part of phase-2.
Md Nojibur Rahman, principal secretary to the prime minister, attended the program as chief guest.
Principal Coordinator (SDG affairs) Md Abul Kalam Azad; Takheshi Ito, minister at Japanese embassy in Bangladesh; Yoshibumi Bito Senior Representative of Jica Bangladesh Office and Yasushi Fukuda general manager, Sumitomo Corporation were present as special guests.
Paban Chowdhury, executive chairman of Beza, chaired the event.
Md Shohelur Rahman Chowdhury general manager of Beza and Yasushi Fukuda singed the joint venture agreement on behalf of their entity.
According to the agreement, the Sumitomo Corporation will have 76% stake while the remaining 24% will be held by Beza.
On March 5, the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) approved the economic zone for Japanese investors, who are expected to spend Tk2,127.82 crore for the development of the zone.
total project cost is Tk2,582.18 crore, Tk454.35 crore of which will come from the government fund, while the remaining Tk2,127.82 crore will come as project assistance from Japan through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica).
The location of the economic zone is 37km away from Gulshan area and it will be named as Bangladesh Special Economic Zone (BSEZ).
Nojibur: “This is a new horizon of Japanese investment in the country and new ara of friendship.”
He also said, this initiative would boost up confidence in investors and would augment the brand image of Bangladesh in improving investment climate.
Ito said: “A good number of Japanese companies have shown immense interest in investing in the Japanese economic zone.”
Speaking about the initiative, Beza Chairman Paban, said: “Establishment of an economic zone for Japan is a great move, which will prove that Bangladesh is a lucrative place for foreign investors.”
project will be implemented by June 2023″ he added.
Previously, a decision to set up a special economic zone for Japanese investors was taken during the visits of the prime ministers of both Bangladesh and Japan to each others’ respective countries’ in 2014.
Source: Dhaka Tribune.