11 leading Chinese companies have offered to invest USD 921 million in various sectors of Bangladesh. Companies have shown interest in these investments in various sectors including gas exploration, infrastructure, waste management, logistics, ports, education, pharmaceuticals and manufacturing industries.
These proposals were made in the meeting of the chief executive officer (CEO) and top officials of Chinese companies with Prime Minister Tariq Rahman in Beijing, the capital of China, last Thursday (June 25).
However, these investments are still in the initial proposal stage. Executive Chairman of Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) Chowdhury Ashiq Mahmud Bin Haroon told reporters that these are the proposals given by the respective companies. The government has not yet verified them. So at the moment nothing can be said about the possibility or certainty of investment implementation.
Sectors in which investment interest
The biggest investment proposal among Chinese companies came in the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) project of the Dhaka-Chittagong highway. Sichuan Road and Bridge Group has proposed to invest $4.5 billion in this sector. In addition, Zhongxin Environmental Protection Group plans to invest $1.65 billion to build an e-waste recycling and disposal industry in Payra Port Industrial Area.
Shanghai SUS Environment Company has offered $890 million in waste-to-energy projects in the country and China’s state-owned construction company China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) has offered $650 million to develop the Mongla Economic Zone, bonded warehouse and regional logistics hub. It is claimed that about 50 thousand people can be employed in this project.
Apart from this, various Chinese companies have offered to invest 250 million dollars in gas field exploration and development, 250 million dollars in the production of smart electricity meters, 270 million dollars in the construction of a modern applied university and technical education industrial park, cold-chain logistics, railway parts production, solar power, batteries, recycled cotton and yarn production and herbal plant-based industries.
