The Bangladesh Special Economic Zone, a joint development by the governments of Bangladesh and Japan on 1,000 acres of land in Araihazar, Narayanganj, is accelerating construction efforts to commence production in early 2024. Singer Bangladesh Ltd., a multinational electronics and home appliance company, has already started constructing a factory in the economic zone and plans to begin production by March 2024.
Four other companies have also initiated factory construction, with four more in the contract signing process, and 22 additional companies expressing interest in the economic zone. Efforts are being made to ensure uninterrupted power supply and utility facilities, including the construction of a 230 kV substation. The infrastructural development work is scheduled to be completed by June 2025. The Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority expects the zone to attract $1.5 billion in investments and employ approximately 100,000 people once fully operational, with various sectors including automobile assembly, motorcycles, mobile handsets, agro-food, light engineering, garments, and pharmaceuticals set to establish factories there.