The Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Shilpa Nagar (BSMSN) is partially ready with key infrastructure and utility services to host industrial units now, according to a spot account.
Several investors have already started setting up their factory buildings and few of them are expecting to start production by June next while many ready plots with necessary facilities awaiting investors, officials have said.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA) is now getting good responses from the local and international investors to get land in the BSMSN thanks to its highly suitable location.
"The BEZA has so far received investment proposals worth US$ 15 billion. Some of the willing businesses have already started setting up factories," said BEZA Executive Chairman Paban Chowdhury.
"We have approved or signed memorandum of understanding with local and multinational businesses including Berger Paints, Asian Paints and Sojitz Corporation," Mr Chowdhury told the FE during a recent visit to the Mirsarai Economic Zone (MEZ).
Chinese Yabang Chemical Group recently got allocation for 100-acres of land in the EZ, but later they sought 500 acres in total considering the future prospect of investment, he added.
The BSMSN is an industrial hub comprising three conjoining EZs - Mirsarai and Sitakunda in Chattogram district and Sonagazi in Feni district, according to BEZA.
Primarily the BEZA is developing the zones in over 30,000 acres of land on the mouth of Feni river, covering 25 kilometres of coast line of Sandwip Channel of the Bay of Bengal.
Responding to a query, Mr Paban Chowdhury said the BEZA is hopeful about getting the BSMSN fully complete by 2030 which will also be an ideal tourism spot. He added that a good number of plots are now ready for factory construction.
There will be an aesthetic water body by the name of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, a marine drive and other tourism attractions, he said.
During a visit to the MEZ, a factory of Chinese Jinyuan Chemical Industry was found fully ready for production. "We are now ready to start manufacturing different chemical products and export those," said Wang Li Bing, a representative of the company.
He hailed the support received from the government authorities to install the factory within a short period of time.
Among the under-construction factories, Nippon & McDonald Steel Industries Ltd is likely to go for production by July next, said its onsite Manager Abdullah Al Mamun.
"We are done with the foundation work for the new factory, now it will take few months only to complete the factory building prior to starting production," said Mr Mamun. The Japan-Bangladesh joint venture company has invested Tk 5.5 billion for the new industrial unit.
A multinational company Asian Paint observed the groundbreaking ceremony in the MEZ on January 22. The company is setting up its second plant in Bangladesh at a cost of US$ 20 million.
"Our aspiration to develop new factory in a land free from any type of disputes has been made easy with the support of the EZ authority," said the company's Bangladesh head Ritesh Doshi.
According to the sources, the BSMSN is expected to generate over 1.5 million direct and another 3.5 million indirect employments drawing an investment worth US$ 30 billion.
The industrial enclave is going to have all required infrastructure facilities like road connectivity, power plants, gas stations, water supply, residential facility and recreation centres.
The BEZA is even planning to develop a dedicated sea port for the industrial city, Paban Chowdhury said.
Aiming to become a complete industrial city, the BSMSN should have its own sea port, said the BEZA chief, adding that international development partners like Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the World Bank have given green signal in this regard.
"Soon a detailed feasibility study will start as two pre-feasibility studies have been conducted," said Mr Chowdhury. "We hope the BSMSN will have its own complete seaport spreading over thousand acres of land," he said.
There will be a place to be allocated for establishing an airstrip so that executive jets can land when required in future, he added.
