Bashundhara Gr to invest $500m at Mirsarai zone

Bashundhara Group will establish a modern pulp, paper and board factory with an investment of $500 million at the Mirsarai Economic Zone (MEZ). The proposed industrial facility, to be developed on 500 acres of land, is expected to create employment for nearly 10,000 people. The group's concern Bashundhara Industrial Economic Zone (BIEZ) signed an agreement with Bangladesh Economic Zone Authority (BEZA) on Monday after receiving the land allocation, the authority said in a statement. Harunur Rashid, executive member of the BEZA (Investment Promotion) and managing director (MD) of the BIEZ Safwan Sobhan signed the agreement on behalf of their respective sides at a function in Dhaka. BEZA executive chairman Paban Chowdhury, member Dr M Emdadul Haque and Mohammed Ayub, and chief executive officer (CEO) of Bashundhara Md Fakhruddin attended the ceremony among others. Speaking on the occasion, Paban Chowdhury said the Economic Zones being developed with the coordinated effort by public and private initiatives would help Bangladesh become a middle-income country by 2021 and a developed country in 2041. The Mirsarai Economic Zone has so far received investment proposals of $10 billion from local and foreign investors. The BEZA, under the Prime Minister's office (PMO), is rapidly developing the zone to make the facilities suitable for production. It is developing a four-lane connecting road, and installing utility services including water, gas and power supply. The zone is the largest and fully government-owned of such 100 dedicated establishments across the country aiming to give an impetus to the national economy.