BEPZA eyes $548m investment

Dhaka: Bangladesh Export Processing Zone Authority is optimistic to net more than $ 548 million in next six months to fulfil its target for attracting investment of $ 1 billion.

It has secured investment accords worth 452 million dollars during the first half of current fiscal year showing 36 per cent higher than the corresponding period of previous year. Officials hoped they would be able to attract investment accords during the second half to reach the annual target.

But the actual investment during July-December last year stood barely at $ 129.85 million. The amount is 135 per cent higher than the same period of the previous year.

The actual investment in the EPZs stood at $ 55.18 million in 2006-07 as against 38.13 million dollars in 2005-06.

The agreement for investment in 2005-06 and 2006-07 fiscal years were $ 153 million and $ 566 million respectively.

BEPZA executive chairman Brig Gen Ashraf Abdullah Yussuf at a press briefing expressed his strong optimism to net $ 1 billion during the current fiscal year.

He said that every day he and his office were receiving proposals for investment in EPZs. But he could not provide them plots in EPZs due to shortage of place.

‘It seems to me we have to set up 10-20, even more EPZs to allocate plots to prospective investors,’ he said.

He also informed that his office already sent proposals to the government for setting up at least two more EPZS in the Dhaka-Chittagong economic corridor. He hoped that the government would approve them very shortly.