The Chinese Economic and Industrial Zone (CEIZ) in Chittagong reportedly has yet to begin construction, even though the Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA) first proposed the enclave to attract foreign investment eight years ago.
According to insiders, BEZA purchased 784 acres of land for the economic zone in the port city’s Anwara upazila, and he had already built a handful of roads and installed various utility services. However, construction work has yet to commence, and one main reason for this is an unexpected change of developer.
The BEZA first signed a deal with China Harbour Engineering Company Limited (CHEC) to create the economic zone in October 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 16th July 2022, the Chinese authorities nominated China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) as the new developer. In June of the same year, the BEZA signed a collaboration and investment agreement with CRBC. Officials noted that BEZA concluded the shareholder agreement with CRBC in October of last year.
According to sources, the BEZA submitted the final drafts 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 reports to the Prime Minister’s Office, took the initiative to build the industrial enclave to Prime Minister (PM) Sheikh Hasina’s offer to Chinese investors.
According to insiders, a Special Purpose Company (SPC) will be formed to oversee the economic zone’s future development and management, which is projected to provide a favourable business environment for Chinese enterprises and create two lakh jobs.
