Business Desk :
Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA) on Wednesday inked an agreement with the Bangladesh Special Economic Zone (BSEZ) Limited for the development work of the Bangladesh Special Economic Zone (Japanese Economic Zone).
Prime Minister’s Principal Secretary Dr Ahmad Kaikaus attended the function as the chief guest while Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh Naoki Ito was present as the guest of honor. Chief Representative of the Bangladesh Office of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Yuho Hayakawa and General Manager of Sumitomo Corporation Eisuke Nakanishi were present as special guests. BEZA Executive Chairman Shaikh Yusuf Harun presided over the function. Executive Member of BEZA Abdul Azim Chowdhury and Sumitomo Corporation’s General Manager Eisuke Nakanishi inked the agreement on behalf of their respective sides.
The agreement was formed to build roads, power and water supply lines, a common effluent treatment plant (CETP) and water treatment plant in the zone, according to officials familiar with the matter. BEZA and Sumitomo Corporation, which has been appointed by Japan as the land developer of the zone, have jointly formed Bangladesh Special Economic Zone Ltd in 2019 for the infrastructural development of the zone. The governments of Bangladesh and Japan are jointly developing the zone on 1,000 acres of land in Narayanganj, 32 kilometres from the capital Dhaka.
This agreement is a milestone for the 50th anniversary of the bilateral relations between Japan and Bangladesh. Bangladesh and Japan are developing the economic zone on a government-to-government basis. The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) approved the Tk 2,582 crore project in March 2019. If them Tk 454.35 crore will come from government funds and Tk 2,127.82 crore from JICA as loan. The deadline for the project is 30 June 2023.
