Dhaka: President of Bangladesh Economic Zones Investors’ Association (BEZIA) MA Jabbar said that despite many entrepreneurs paying significant amounts for plot allocations, sluggish infrastructure and utility development have fueled uncertainty in the economic zones. As a result, only 27 industrial units are currently in production across 39,000 acres of land in these five zones, accounting for just 37 percent of the total allocated land currently in operation, he pointed out.
According to United News of Bangladesh, the BEZIA president highlighted these issues during a meeting with the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) held on Monday. The meeting aimed to boost investment momentum and resolve existing infrastructure and policy challenges in the economic zones. The meeting took place at the BGMEA Complex in Uttara, Dhaka, with the BEZIA delegation led by its President, M A Jabbar, and included Vice President Md. Halimuzzaman, Director Delwar H Titu, CEO Dr. Aporup Chowdhury, and Member Md. Mustafizur Rahman. The BGMEA delegation was led by President Mahmud Hasan Khan, alongside Vice President (Finance) Mizanur Rahman.
During the meeting, leaders from both trade bodies discussed the progress of plots allocated across five public economic zones prioritized by the government for full operationalization in the first phase. They also addressed various policy bottlenecks faced by investors. Emphasizing joint advocacy, the leaders called for addressing acute shortages of uninterrupted gas and industrial water and opposed additional service charges imposed before factories become fully operational.
To ensure an investment-friendly environment, both organizations agreed to jointly submit several key policy demands to high-level government authorities. These demands include a complete waiver of service charges imposed by the Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA) on utility bills until guaranteed uninterrupted utility supply is ensured, providing sectoral cash incentives to unit investors in economic zones equal to those granted to units operating outside the zones, eliminating double taxation by waiving the 15 percent VAT on lease tariffs at both master leaseholder and sub-lessee levels, and allowing bonded-license domestic exporters to execute deemed export activities without requiring EXP and EP forms to eliminate administrative delays and hassle.
BEZIA President MA Jabbar specifically noted that BGMEA has 41-unit investors in the National Special Economic Zone located in Mirsarai, Chattogram, making joint collaboration logically sound and vital for national and policy-level interests of the readymade garment (RMG) sector. In this context, Jabbar invited BGMEA to nominate a representative to sit on the BEZIA Board of Directors to ensure sustainable industrialization and strengthen mutual coordination. BGMEA President Mahmud Hasan Khan welcomed the proposal and committed to nominating a qualified representative shortly.
The meeting concluded with leaders of both associations expressing optimism that their joint policy advocacy would encourage BEZA to take swift, groundbreaking steps to overcome infrastructural and policy bottlenecks.