Economic Reporter :
Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA) on Tuesday inked a land lease agreement with Jiangsu Yabang Dyestuff, China, a concern of the Yabang Investment Holdings Group Co Limited, at BEZA office in the city for 100 acres developed land.
Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) Secretary Md Tofazzel Hossain Miah attended the agreement signing ceremony as the chief guest while BEZA Executive Chairman Paban Chowdhury was in the chair.
Chairman of the Yabang Group Xu Xiaochu joined the function as the special guest through online while Bangladesh Ambassador to China Mahbub Uz Zaman joined it as the guest of honour.
BEZA Executive Member (Planning and Development) Irfan Sarif and Deputy Director of the Yabang Investment Holding Group Wei Zhu inked the agreement on behalf of their respective sides.
In his speech, Tofazzel Hossain Miah welcomed the Yabang Group for the investment and said the government under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is committed to provide all sorts of support to the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).
“We are committed to provide all sorts of supports to the investors. We are making much more reforms. We are providing good investment friendly incentive comparing the other neighbouring countries. By now, many foreign direct investments are taking place in Bangladesh,” he added.
Paban Chowdhury said the ongoing global trade situation is favourable for Bangladesh and that is why the Chinese businesses are keen to invest in the country. The investment of Yabang Group will help Bangladesh diversify its export basket as well as ensure technology transfer, he added.
The Yabang Investment Holdings Group Co Limited, a Chinese company that originally belongs to the Yabang group of China, has a plan to invest US$300 million in textile and other chemical industries.
The Yabang group, one of the top 500 Chinese companies, applied for 100 acres developed land on annual lease rental basis to set up textile and other chemical industries in Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Shilpa Nagar (BSMSN) at Mirsarai, Sitakundu and Sonagazi upazillas under Chattogram and Feni districts.
The group has submitted conceptual master plan along with implementation plan in support of infrastructure development of the project.
They have also submitted ‘Environment Management Plan’ to address environmental issues of the project and this will be a 100 percent foreign owned project. The group has also submitted three years audited balance sheet of the sponsor company certified by them and as per balance sheet, the sponsor company have sufficient fund as “Surplus Reserve” and “Undistributed Profits” to cover equity contribution of the proposed project.
The group is likely to create employment for 2,200 people and annual export will be around $146.40 million. The amount of annual domestic sale of the group is likely to be $97.60 million.
The Yabang Group is one of the leading companies in the chemical sector with present operating income exceeding 32 billion RMB ($4.5 billion) in China.
Its business covers dye, coating, pigment, medicine, veterinary, pesticide, photovoltaic, logistics, finance and real estate industries. It has more than 60 subsidiary (branch) companies.
BEZA Executive Member (Planning and Development) Irfan Sarif and Deputy Director of the Yabang Investment Holding Group Wei Zhu inked, exchanging documents after signing a land lease agreement at BEZA office in the city on Tuesday.