Construction of Chinese economic zone makes no progress in 8 years

Construction of the Chinese Economic and Industrial Zone (CEIZ) in Chattogram has not started despite eight years having passed since the Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (Beza) first took the initiative to build the enclave in a bid to attract foreign investment.

Insiders said Beza had acquired 784 acres of land for the economic zone in the Anwara upazila of the port city and had already constructed a couple of roads and established other utility services for the zone.

However, construction work is yet to begin and a major reason for that was an unexpected change of developer.

The Beza initially signed a contract with China Harbour Engineering Company Limited (CHEC) to establish the economic zone in October of 2016.

However, the developer agreement and land lease agreement could not be signed with CHEC due to various reasons and the initiative fell through in April of 2022.

Subsequently, on July 16 of 2022, the Chinese authorities nominated China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) as the new developer.

In June the same year, the Beza inked the terms of cooperation and investment with CRBC.

Officials added that Beza had finalised the shareholder agreement with CRBC in October last year.

Sources also said the BEZA sent the final draft of the developer agreement and land lease agreement to the legislative and parliamentary affairs division and the finance division for approval last month.

The agency, which operates under the Prime Minister's Office, took the initiative to construct the industrial enclave in line with an offer from Prime Minister (PM) Sheikh Hasina to Chinese investors.

During her visit to China in June of 2014, the PM offered an exclusive economic zone for Chinese investors in order to attract foreign investment.

The Beza also signed an agreement with the Commerce Ministry of China during her visit. Later, it took a Tk 420 crore project to implement the scheme.

China is providing a loan to fund part of the project.

Insiders said a Special Purpose Company (SPC) would be formed to undertake future development and management of the economic zone, which is expected to create a congenial business environment for Chinese companies and create employment for two lakh people.