When Bangladesh embarked on a journey to set up 100 economic zones across the country in 2015, the government’s aim was to attract both foreign and local investments as it looks to accelerate industrialisation, create one crore jobs and export $40 billion worth of goods and services from the enclaves in the next 15 years.
So, it offered a 100 per cent income tax exemption for 10 years on capital gains, dividends, royalties, and technical assistant fees, and an 80 per cent exemption on value-added tax on electricity, water and gas consumption.
Besides, export-oriented industries are allowed to sell 20 per cent of their products in the burgeoning local market and foreign nationals working in the zones may remit 75 per cent of their net salaries.
After seven years, the government has readied five economic zones while entrepreneurs have set up dozens of them.
Accordingly, the Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (Beza) has received $22.17 billion worth of investment proposals from home and abroad in automobile, chemical, pharmaceuticals, light engineering, hospital, plastic, edible oil and food processing.
Of the sum, only $1.32 billion is foreign direct investment (FDI), data from the agency showed. Besides, just $55 million has been invested so far.
“The progress of investment in the economic zones is quite disappointing, particularly when it comes to foreign investment. It is below our expectation,”…
