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New Export Zone's foundation to be laid by PM |
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July 14, 2000
Dhaka (UNB)- The country is going to have its third Export Processing Zone readied for operation, after Dhaka and Chittagong EPZs, by the yearend. Officials hope when the new one in Comilla will go into operation, country's export earnings will get a boost. The contribution of the two existing EPZs to earnings from the national exports was about 14 per cent in 1998-99, which is expected to stand around 16 per cent in 1999-2000. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will lay the foundations of Comilla EPZ on Saturday. "Earth filling on 258 acres of land of the EPZ at the Comilla old airport premises already has been completed and development works for infrastructure are going on," said one official. They said 27,000 square-meter space for standard factory buildings and 208 industrial plots planned for the first phase were expected to be ready for allotment by December this year. Mid-2001 was the scheduled date for the project implementation. Comilla EPZ will have own water-supply system for use by the entrepreneurs while gas supply will be ensured from Titas Gas Field and power supply through own 11KV substation. Besides other facilities, officials hoped, the new EPZ would be attractive for the investors due to proximity (130km) from the main seaport of the country. Dhaka and Chittagong EPZs are in operation while three others at Mongla, Iswardi and Syedpur-Nilphamari are under implementation. Meanwhile, the enterprises of the Export Processing Zones of Bangladesh exported goods worth about US$ 890.17 million equivalent to Tk 46322.848 million in the last fiscal year (1999-2000) ending on June 30. In 1998-99, exports from EPZs fetched about US $ 711.69 million (Tk 37007.88 million) and it increased 25.17 percent in the just-out 1999-2000 financial year. Of the total, export earning from Chittagong EPZ (CEPZ) stands at US$ 526,092 million and that of Dhaka EPZ (DEPZ) at US$ 364.725 million. The target of export of the last fiscal was US$ 800 million that was exceeded by US$ 90 million. The exportable included electrical and electronic goods, automobile parts, garments and accessories, footwear, leather products, head-wear, audio and video tapes, fishing reels, golf shafts, tents, sleeping bags and back packs, camera lenses, terry towels, sweaters, bicycles, optical instruments, furniture and textiles. The export destinations were USA, Canada, Italy, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, UAE, Japan, Greece, Spain, Nigeria, Morocco, Australia, Norway, Australia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Thailand, Singapore, Mexico, Paraguay, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, India, Mongolia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Germany, UK and Portugal. Some 98 industries are in operation in the CEPZ with an investment of US$ 283.304 million while 42 industrial units are operating in the DEPZ with an investment of US$ 143.493 million. The two export-processing zones have created employment opportunities for about 92 thousand Bangladeshi nationals. Of the total, 60,157 persons are working in CEPZ and 31,843 in DEPZ. |