Business Desk :
Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA) is going to ink a ‘Term Sheet’ with Adani Ports and SEZ Limited of India on April 1 in Mumbai, a famous Indian city, to establish the Government to Government (G2G) based Indian Economic Zone (EZ). As per investopedia.com, a Term Sheet is a nonbinding agreement that shows the basic terms and conditions of an investment, said a press release.
Through this Term Sheet, full-fledged activities for the development of the Indian EZ will begin. Other processes, including the formation of company, to operate the EZ will be started in phases. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Bangladesh Government and the Indian Government in June 2015 to establish the Indian EZ. In this context, Indian Government has selected the Adani Ports and SEZ Limited to work as a developer of the EZ.
BEZA Executive Chairman Shaikh Yusuf Harun said BEZA is going to ink the agreement to attract more Indian investors in the country. “This is an important step towards forming the Indian EZ which is being established to attract more Indian investors in the country,” he added. He hoped that the zone will able to attract Indian investors as it is going to be an international standard EZ by ensuring all investment friendly facilities.
Shaikh Yusuf Harun, however, said Bangladesh is becoming a centre of global business community which will help the country achieve Vision-2041. “Very low labour cost, skilled manpower, favourable government policies, uninterrupted electricity supply, high productivity and political stability are turning Bangladesh into a global investment hub despite the Covid-19 pandemic,” he added.
Indian EZ is being established at Mirsarai in Chattogram district under the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Shilpa Nagar (BSMSN) on about 857 acres of land with a cost of about Taka 964 crore (Indian Flexible Loan LOC US$115 million). The main activities of the project are land development, construction of access road, administrative building, security shed, water supply and sanitation system, telecommunication, water treatment plant and other investment friendly facilities. In this context, recruitment of consulting firm and manpower has already been completed.
BEZA is developing the BSMSN on around 30,000 acres of land touching three upazilas– Mirsarai, Sitakundu and Sonagazi– under Chattogram and Feni districts respectively. It is located on the mouth of river Feni covering 25 kilometers of coast line of the Bay of Bengal. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina laid the foundation stone of the EZ on February 28, 2016.
