KEPZ crisis sending wrong signals?

That the much-vaunted Korean Export Processing Zone (KEPZ) project has remained virtually stuck for the last 17 years is as unwarranted as it is instructive. It broadly reflects the fact that things had not   been adequately thought through before taking the plunge.

So it seemed from the deliberations in a discussion meet on A New Investment Regime for Bangladesh co-organised by the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) and the South Asian Network on Economic Modelling (SANEM) on Saturday. Analysts voiced concern over the KEPZ impasse saying that it may have earned a bad name for Bangladesh among the investors.  

A tussle has been developing between the government and the KEPZ, more precisely its operator, the Youngone Corporation, on the allocation of nearly 2,500 acres of land to the corporation. The government plans to take back 2,000 acres of the 2,500 acres of land it had allocated for the KEPZ in 1999 on the ground of Youngone's failure to fully use the industrial land in the zone. Youngone, on the other hand, complains of delays in executing the deed transfer of the land.

We endorse the experts' views that since the discord bears the potential for sending an adverse signal on the country's foreign investment climate, we should address the issue on a top priority basis to reach an amicable settlement.