Bepza Economic Zone gets $24m foreign investment

A Chinese company, SSH (BD) Sustainable Fashion Co Ltd, will invest $24.05 million in the Bepza Economic Zone to establish a high-end garment industry.

To this effect, the Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (Bepza) on Wednesday signed an agreement with the company at the Bepza complex in Dhaka.

The Chinese company will produce 36 million pieces of high-end garment products each year, including jackets, blazers, coats, suits, pants, trousers, jeans, shirts, shorts, cargo longs, underwear, jerseys, T-shirts, knit-bottoms, baby bumpers, swimsuits, sheath dresses, hoodies, and uniforms.

Some 2,062 Bangladeshi nationals are expected to get employment there.

Ali Reza Mazid, member (investment promotion) of Bepza, and Sun Ge, managing director of SSH (BD) Sustainable Fashion Co Ltd, signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organisations.

Bepza Executive Chairman Major General Abul Kalam Mohammad Ziaur Rahman was present at the signing ceremony.

Outside of Bangladesh, the company operates 11 factories in Myanmar, Cambodia, and China.

Among others, Member (Engineering) Mohammad Faruque Alam, Member (Finance) Nafisa Banu, Executive Director (Public Relations) Nazma Binte Alamgir, Executive Director (Investment Promotion) Md Tanvir Hossain, and Executive Director (Enterprise Services) Md Khorshid Alam were present at the event.

Nazma Binte Alamgir told The Business Standard, "The Chinese company will start factory construction in three to six months. It will bring machinery from abroad and set it up in the factory."

Including SSH (BD), Bepza signed agreements with a total of 16 enterprises to establish industries in the Bepza Economic Zone for an investment of $387.7 million. 

"The zone is expected to draw approximately $2.70 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) once it is fully operational," Major General Abul Kalam Mohammad Ziaur Rahman told TBS.

Bepza is currently overseeing eight operational export processing zones (EPZs) including Chattogram EPZ, Dhaka EPZ, Mongla EPZ, Ishwardi EPZ, Cumilla EPZ, Uttara EPZ, Karnaphuli EPZ, and Adamjee EPZ.

The Bepza Economic Zone in the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Shilpa Nagar in Chattogram's Mirsarai is gearing up to go into production this year.

The economic zone, the first of its kind developed by Bepza, spans 1,138.55 acres of land in Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Shilpa Nagar.