Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today said the government will set up 100 economic zones gradually to attract more foreign investment that will ultimately help create huge jobs and take the country towards further industrialisation.

The prime minister said this at the third governing body meeting of Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (Beza) held at her office in Dhaka.

After the meeting, prime minister's Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim briefed reporters.

Hasina said the government has so far set up 21 economic zones, and it is working to raise the number to 100 for creating greater opportunities for investment, industrialisation and employment which will further accelerate the country’s economic progress.

The PM said the locations of some economic zones have already been selected and asked the authorities concerned to select such more places for setting up more economic zones.

Stressing the need for taking into consideration the potentials of various regions, Hasina said industries, especially the medium and small ones, will have to be established based on the availability of resources of the particular areas.

Laying emphasis on developing labour intensive industries, Hasina said such move will create huge employment opportunities and asked the authorities concerned to diversify production, industrialisation and marketing.

The prime minister said the entrepreneurs willing to develop various industries could install power generation system on their own, if they want to.

She also stressed looking into the issue of good communications system while selecting the economic zones, and reminded the authorities to keep the provision of water reservoir and rainwater preservation system there.

Hasina said the income capacity of people has enhanced significantly while the local market is expanded for the country’s own products.

The prime minister also underlined the importance of establishing domestic industries based on demands of products in the international market, and stressed setting up of argo-processing industries as Bangladesh's land is very fertile.

She said all concerned will have to give importance to boosting export considering the demand in neighbouring countries, too.

The meeting also reviewed the progress of BEZA activities.