The Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority is expected to start allocating plots for investors in Patuakhali Export Processing Zone from early 2026.聽
鈥楾he land development work of Patuakhali EPZ has already been started. Around 55 per cent work has been completed. The development work will be completed by June, 2026. But we may start allocating plots from early 2026. Factory construction work and land development will continue simultaneously,鈥� said BEPZA executive chairman Major General Abul Kalam Mohammad Ziaur Rahman.
In a recent interview with BSS, Ziaur Rahman said that BEPZA was setting up the EPZ to take advantage of the increased connectivity offered by Padma Bridge and Payra Port.
Industries in the Patuakhali EPZ will strategically benefit from easy access to imported raw materials and export facilities, he added.
He hoped that the EPZ would help increase the country鈥檚 export earnings and create employment opportunities that will contribute to the socioeconomic development of the southwestern region of Bangladesh.
Ziaur Rahman, however, said that the new EPZ featuring 306 industrial plots was being built on 410.78 acres of land in Pachakoralia Mouza of Auliapur union under Patuakhali sadar upazila.
He said that the EPZ was expected to create employment opportunities for about 1 lakh people.
According to the BEPZA, the Patuakhali EPZ is being constructed at a cost of Tk 1,443 crore. Of the project cost, the government offered Tk 1,105 crore and the BEPZA Tk 338 crore.
The infrastructures, being developed under the Patuakhali EPZ project, include 3.15 lakh metres of roads, around 30,000 metres of drainage, four six-storey factory buildings, three 10-story office buildings, four six-story and three 10-storey residential buildings, zone office, customs office, and security office, a helipad and 54 rehabilitation houses for landowners affected by the project.
The project will also have substations inside its boundary to ensure uninterrupted power supply.
There are currently eight EPZs in Bangladesh, namely the Chittagong EPZ, Dhaka EPZ, Mongla EPZ, Ishwardi EPZ, Cumilla EPZ, Uttara EPZ, Adamji EPZ and Karnaphuli EPZ.
