Press Release Summary = After the independence of Bangladesh, the, overall state of the infrastructure was in peril; communications -- both road and riverine -- were in disarray and the government was not stable.
Press Release Body = After the independence of Bangladesh, the, overall state of the infrastructure was in peril; communications -- both road and riverine -- were in disarray and the government was not stable. As such, foreign entrepreneurs were not interested to invest in Bangladesh. Only nominal investment in some sectors was made until the early eighties. In fact, when some infrastructural development took place and a number of major projects in the communication sector were implemented, overseas investors began to come in looking for substantial gains. The government identified certain areas exclusively for them. Land and other utility services were made available to them at reasonable costs. In this way, export processing zones (EPZs) sprang up in various places of the country. Its exclusive aim was to attract foreign investors. The idea got some immediate responses. Investors from the USA, Japan, the UK, South Korea, China, Taiwan, India etc., set up industries in the EPZs. While they earned profit, the industries in those exclusive zones generated employment opportunities for the people. The latest EPZ has been set up at Adamjee Nagar on the ruins of now defunct Adamjee Jute Mills (AJM). It is hard to believe that the world\'s largest jute mill is no more and on its premises, hundreds of overseas industries will be thriving soon. But, the government took the right decision in closing it down. The AJM was incurring colossal losses after the country\'s independence when jute began to lose demand in the world market. Mismanagement and corruption also contributed to making it a \'white elephant.\' Even after floating of tender for several times for its sale as a mill, there could be found no taker. At last, the authorities took the painful decision of closing it down. During the end of the previous Awami League government, the AJM was closed down in spite of stiff resistance from its workers and employees. The agitation continued for several days. But nothing did work, the mill died its natural death and became extinct for good. At a high level meeting, it was decided that the AJM premises would be turned into an industrial park. One wonders how the decision took such a long time - more than seven long years - to be implemented. In Bangladesh, things move at a snail\'s speed, papers don\'t change tables without speed money. Everybody knows how unbridled corruption is eating into the vitals of the economy. The climate for investment will improve once such vices could be eliminated for good. The performances of all EPZs are not similar. Some zones are doing pretty good, some are not. The performance of EPZs in the northern districts is not that much satisfactory. The Chittagong EPZ is doing very well. South Korea\'s giant business conglomerate -- Yuangon Corporation -- has built an exclusive economic zone in Chittagong. But the Yuangon is facing so many hurdles in every step to make it operational. Of late, India\'s famous Tata Group has come up with its $3.0 billion investment plan. Tata wants to build steel mills and a coal-fired power plant. Negotiations with Tata are at the final stage. But the outcome is not predictable as differences over the pricing of gas still persist. The pricing has to be rational keeping the current upward trend of oil prices in view. Radisson has just set up a five-star hotel close to the Zia international airport. Large investment proposals are likely to come from the UAE, the UK and Japan. In fact, Japan has been trying to relocate some of its sunset industries to Bangladesh for many years -- yet its decision is being delayed for unknown reasons. The uneasing confrontational domestic politics and the uneasy law and order situation could be the reasons behind the delay. Of late, labour unions have been introduced in the EPZs. In order to continue to enjoy the generalised system of preference (GSP) in the European and the US markets, Bangladesh gave its approval to labour unions in the EPZs. So far, no harmful deed has occurred. Labourers\' rights are being well protected. Earlier, the government offered 20 per cent cash incentive for the foreign entrepreneurs in the EPZs to invest in agro-based industrial sector. Yet the country\'s export processing zones -- mostly new ones -- received very limited response in this regard. It is now assumed that the investment in the country is unlikely to pick up ahead of the next general election. Prospective investors may prefer to see how the political situation develops in the run-up to the election. Generally businessmen feel reluctant to go for new investment before a general election. In such a situation, the government has initiated a process to convert 717 acres of land of three closed-down giant state-owned mills into industrial parks. The lands of these mills in Dhaka, Chittagong and Khulna will have around 700 industrial plots, largely for garments-related industries and chemicals and electronic industries. Some of the plots will host foreign investment. The government is also planning to turn the premises of some more closed-down mills into industrial plots. The cabinet committee on economic affairs earlier gave the green signal to hand over 223 acres of the Chittagong Steel Mills (CSM) to Bangladesh Export Processing Zone Authority (BEPZA) for expanding the Chittagong Export Processing Zone (CEPZ) and to sell plots to entrepreneurs. Of the 294 acres of Adamjee land, 214 will house industries while the rest 80 acres will accommodate infrastructural facilities including a three-star hotel, a pollution treatment plant, medical facilities, offices of banks and insurance companies and a container yard. There will be 457 industrial plots -- 319 for garment industries, 84 for weaving units and 54 for dyeing units. Work on the industrial park will begin next year. While opening the newly set-up EPZ at Adamjee Nagar, Prime Minister Khaleda Zia called for maintaining a congenial atmosphere at any cost to ensure uninterrupted industrial production by shunning frequent hartals and work stoppage. She urged the local and foreign entrepreneurs to come up with bigger investments and technology in the Adamjee EPZ so that it infuses a new dynamism to the process of industrialisation in the country. The government is exploring some options with a view to boosting foreign investment. Setting up of three special economic zones (SEZ) to attract prospective entrepreneurs is on the cards. The SEZs will be designed in such a way that will attract both domestic and foreign investment in a big way. The government would initially develop the Kaliakoir hi-tech park under a donor-funded project in a bid to attract huge investment from global technological giants. Once developed, Kaliakoir hi-tech park may encourage information technology giants, like the IBM and Intel, to set up manufacturing plants. The Adamjee EPZ is expected to entice foreign investors and make Adamjee Nagar vibrant with economic activities. The government is trying its best to make a dead state-owned enterprise (SOE) alive again in a new creative form.
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