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Do you think establishing the special economic Zones will help increase private sector investment in Bangladesh’? Discuss.

Created: 1 year ago | Updated: 11 months ago

Special economic zone (SEZ)

A special economic zone (SEZ) is an area in which business and trade laws are different from the rest of the country. SEZS are located within a country's national borders, and their aims include: increased trade, increased investment. job creation and effective administration. To encourage (সাহস দেওয়া) businesses to set up in the zone, financial policies are introduced. These policies typically regard investing, taxation, trading, quotas, customs and labour regulations. Additionally (অতিরিক্তরূপে), companies may be offered tax holidays, where upon establishing in a zone they are granted a period of lower taxation. 

Economic zones & Bangladesh

The Government of Bangladesh, with a view to encouraging rapid economic development through increased industrial activity and creation of employment opportunities for the people of Bangladesh, is establishing multi-sectoral Economic Zones (EPZ). The Government of Bangladesh has enacted the Bangladesh Economic Zones Act of 2010 with the aim of promoting Economic Zones in the Private sector, Government led EZS or in a combination. The government is planning to set up a total of 100 special economic zones in different parts of the country by the year 2030 in a bid to fetch more foreign investment and generate large-scale employment for the country's vast pool of workers. The economic zones will be set up on 75,000 acres of land under the supervision of Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA). Of the proposed 100 economic zones, projects for 22 economic zones have already got approval with two in the private sector.

With establishment of the proposed 100 special economic zones, Bangladesh will be able to attract huge foreign investment and encourage local entrepreneurs to pour fresh funds in new industries. The government is creating investment-friendly economic zones linking Bangladesh with the free market economy and liberalise trade. It wants private entrepreneurs to get opportunities and to establish and profitably run industrial enterprises. A Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA) report shows that the contribution of the industrial sector to the country's economy is on the rise During 1971- 80, the contribution of the sector to GDP was 11 per cent. It has increased to 30 per cent in FY 2015-16. Manufacturing sectors like textile and apparel, leather, food and beverage, and pharmaceuticals have contributed to building a vibrant industrial economy Bangladesh has a lot of low-cost, well-educated, highly adaptive and industrious workforce, which has been proven by its remarkable success in the readymade garments (RMG) manufacturing and export sector. Compared with its neighbours, Bangladesh's energy prices are much cheaper.

Three categories of economic zones:

The government has chosen three categories of economic zones.

Private economic zones will be set up through a public-private partnership by foreign or local individuals, individually or jointly by local or non-resident Bangladeshis or foreign investors, a body, business organisation or group.

Government economic zones will be established and owned by the government. Special economic zones will be established by a public-private partnership or by government initiatives for the establishment of any kind of specialized industry or commercial organisation

Incentives for zones

The location of the economic zones has to be strategically feasible, which includes regional an affordable labour force and backward linkage opportunities. The incentives must be competitive.

According to the BEZA report, the government intends to provide the same fiscal and financial incentives to industrial units as those provided to the industrial units under the Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority Act, 1980, and the Bangladesh Private Export Processing Zone Act. 1996. BEZA wants private sector entrepreneurs to take the land from them and do business. BEZA's 99 percent concentration is on the private sector, said the executive chairman of BEZA. The government has already planned to give certain facilities to Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). including uninterrupted gas and electricity supply.

According to BEZA's vision document, other than infrastructure, BEZA will provide multiple incentives to the developer of an economic zone and investors in a particular industrial unit. These will include fiscal benefits, such as tax exemption, customs/excise duties, and non-fiscal incentives, such as no FDI ceiling, work permits and citizenship.

The BEZA vision also expresses incentive package information for both developers and unit investors. For developers, income tax will be exempted for 12 years. For unit investors, income tax will be exempted for 10 years.

 

10 months ago

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8 months ago

Cluster Villages

 

A majority of the Bangladesh population are farmers who are settled in villages. They toil to make both ends meet and produce crops for the entire nation. Bangladesh has about 68,000 villages, which are scattered throughout the country.  A village is called the rural part of the country. It is called rural because it does not have modern facilities like cities. The main occupation of the villagers is farming. They are the primary source of the nation's agricultural production.

 

Description of Villages

Villages have either tiny hamlets of thatched huts or large settlements of tiled roofs, stones, and brick homes. An impression has been created by artists and filmmakers that an Indian village is a simple cluster of mud-plastered walls, shaded by trees, overlooking the large expanses of green fields with a few people moving slowly and of course, bullock carts. They portray a village woman with a pot on her head and walking gracefully, her skirt swaying gently. The reality is that a village is the hub of nonstop activity, with their stronger work ethics. Agriculture is tough and requires hard work. The villagers work very hard and are always trying to find innovative methods of growing wheat, rice, and lentils. 

 

Importance of Village

The village is important because it is the primary sector of agricultural production for our country. The village is the backbone of Bangladesh economy. It also plays a major role in maintaining the ecological balance of the environment. Villages are mostly covered with trees and plants. They are covered with green grasslands. One can see acres of green fields as far as the eyes could see. They provide shelter to many animals. 

Life in Village

The village life is full of contentment and happiness, as people are not in a hurry like in city life. Village people live a very simple life. Villages are mostly situated far from the hustle and bustle of urban civilization. The beauty of nature can be experienced in a village as it is surrounded by trees, flowers, mountains, streams, and farmlands. There is no pollution in the village and one can feel the freshness in the breeze. The demands of the villagers are not too high but they are still deprived of basic facilities. Clean drinking water, electricity, health center, schools, proper sanitation are a few facilities that are lacking in the villages. Their poverty is always visible in the atmosphere. 

Conclusion

My village is a small abode for happy people.  Here they live in harmony and peace. The village people are very hardworking and thus they must have a good source of upliftment. Like the village’s schools and clinics should be maintained and increased in number. The farmers should be facilitated by helping them to leverage their sales, make them notified about the modern techniques used in farming, and give them compensation and knowledge of the true market price of their crops. Thus, I would request governmental authorities to come forward and uplift the medical, educational, and farming facilities in the village.

8 months ago

Problems of urban living in Bangladesh

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Bangladesh needs to build an urban space that is capable of innovating, is better connected and more livable in order to make cities competitive. Bangladesh’s urban space is falling behind in all three of these drivers of competitiveness. The Dhaka metro area needs to evolve into a diversified economy with skilled human resources and an innovation capacity fueled by the cross-fertilization of ideas typical of large metropolitan areas. Dhaka metro area also needs to be better connected internally and with its peri-urban areas, and both Dhaka and Chittagong have to strengthen their connection to the global economy. Improved connectivity within Bangladesh’s system of cities is also important for productivity and export competitiveness. The development of an economically dynamic urban space, in particular in the Dhaka metro region, has occurred at the expense of livability. The livability of the urban space will become an even more binding constraint to sustained growth as Bangladesh transitions to a new business model based on higher-value industries and services, which need a highly skilled and internationally mobile workforce. This  is a tall order for Bangladesh, but planning needs to start today for Bangladesh’s cities to become more competitive in future.

 

Urbanization have crucial role to play in the economic development of Bangladesh. The circumstances under which population in Dhaka and Chittagong are growing without proportionate infrastructural development will begin to wipe out most of the gains associated with urbanization. That is, relative high levels of urbanization may not be sufficient to ensure higher levels of economic welfare in Bangladesh. This has happened in Latin America with levels of urbanization, above 80%, yet with real per capita incomes about a third that of developed nations. It could happen in Bangladesh as well unless the urban managers rise from their prolonged slumber.

8 months ago

My school days

School is said to be a temple of knowledge, the very first place that introduced you to the world and more so your own self. My school life is all about the memories I deeply cherish. The memories of not only the fun, friendship and all the sport and extracurricular but also the way it helped me find my interests. I owe it all to my school life. It has made me who I am today.

My school life has been full of different experiences over the years. It gave various opportunities to develop not only my scholastic abilities but also the art and sport side. It supported me in my sports as well as exposed me to numerous types of people. All of this accounted to make me understand how to behave socially and in building a personality which I have today.

There are numerous things that make school life the best phase in one’s life. All of this eventually is because we are young to do mistakes again and again till we realize, dumb enough to not think about people and do what we feel like doing, curious to know everything we can and most importantly still not exposed and contaminated with the evil feelings of this world. And all of this makes us build a personality of our own.

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