Chief adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus on Monday asked the Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority to create a team for economic diplomacy and help promote Bangladesh abroad.
He underlined the need for promoting Bangladesh abroad in collaboration with the foreign affairs ministry to bring more investments to the country鈥檚 industrial sectors.
鈥楥reate a team for economic diplomacy and promote Bangladesh abroad,鈥� Professor Yunus told 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 year to him at his Tejgaon office in Dhaka, according to a press release from the CA press wing.
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 were already receiving positive responses from investors following the July-August uprising in Bangladesh and the repeatedly changing global political landscape.聽
鈥業n the past three weeks, we have received a $135 million investment proposal from the Chinese investors. Talks are underway for more investments,鈥� he told the chief adviser.聽聽聽
He said that eight export processing zones are currently 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 per cent produce ready-made garment items, textile items, and garment accessories. The remaining factories are multifarious, producing miscellaneous items such as coffins and toys.聽
The BEPZA executive chairman 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, said the release.聽
The chief adviser 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 could benefit from importing energy from neighbouring countries.
Special envoy to the chief adviser Lutfey Siddiqi, who was present on the occasion, put an emphasis on targeted economic diplomacy.
Bangladesh Investment Development Authority chairman Ashik Chowdhury said that Bangladesh should incentivise investors to invest in export processing zones.
鈥榃e should make BEPZA and BEZA more attractive and promote the facilities available in the area across the globe to bring more investments,鈥� he said.
The principal secretary to the chief adviser, Md Siraj Uddin Miah, was also present.
