Patuakhali EPZ’s plot allocation to begin early next year

Highlights:

• Patuakhali EPZ to start plot allocation early 2026
• Zone targets $1.53b investment, $1.83b exports
• Project spans 410 acres with 306 industrial plots
• Expected to create 300,000 direct and indirect jobs
• Facilities include factories, housing, treatment plants, helipad, resort
• First EPZ in Bangladesh's south, aims to cut unemployment

The Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (Bepza) expects to start allocating industrial plots to investors at the under-construction Patuakhali Export Processing Zone (EPZ) from the first quarter of next year.

ASM Anwar Parvez, Bepza's executive director (public relations), told TBS, "The development work will be completed by June 2026, but we may start allocating plots from early 2026. Factory construction and land development will continue simultaneously." 

He added that the completion of the nearby Payra Sea Port would provide a significant advantage for investors by offering rapid import and export facilities.

Bepza has set ambitious targets for the new zone, aiming to attract $1,530 million in foreign investment and generate $1,836 million in exports.

Located at Auliapur union under Patuakhali sadar upazila, the new EPZ spans 410.78 acres and is the ninth such zone in the country. Approximately 340 acres have already been filled with earth, and the site will feature 306 industrial plots. Bepza projects the EPZ will create direct employment for one lakh people and indirect jobs for an additional two lakh.

Infograph: TBS

Progress is well underway on various components of the project. Construction is ongoing for 154 houses in the rehabilitation area, along with a school, a mosque, a pond, roads, and drains. Simultaneously, work is progressing on the main office building, a customs office, security barracks, a substation, a main road, a boundary wall, and a central reservoir.

Construction of the customs office, a six-storey zone office building, and the security and Ansar barracks is in progress. 

The project also includes four six-storey factory buildings, three ten-storey residential buildings, a central effluent treatment plant, a sewerage treatment plant network, a helipad, and a central reservoir for rainwater harvesting. An additional plan is in place to build a resort-cum-investors' club on an eight-acre plot in Kuakata.

Bepza officials said that about 80% of the work on the central rainwater reservoir and canal development has been completed.

During a recent visit to the site, Saifullah Panna, secretary at the Chief Adviser's Office, told reporters that the government is dedicated to ensuring a business-friendly environment for both domestic and foreign investors. "We will provide various forms of assistance to entrepreneurs who start businesses here," he said.

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) approved the project on 29 August 2023 at an estimated cost of Tk1,442.78 crore. Of this, the government is providing Tk1,105 crore – 40% of it as capital investment – while the remaining Tk338 crore will come from Bepza's own funds.

This will be the first EPZ in Bangladesh's southern region, and local residents believe it will significantly reduce unemployment. Many have expressed their hope that they will no longer need to travel to Dhaka for work and can instead find employment closer to home.

Bepza currently manages eight operational EPZs, including those in Chattogram, Dhaka, Mongla, and Ishwardi.