Chittagong garment industry is poised to enter a new era as it is going to get a separate zone at Kalurghat heavy industrial estate in the city. Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) to this effect on Sunday. CCC Mayor AJM Nasir Uddin and BGMEA President Siddiqur Rahman signed the MoU at a ceremony held at the GEC Convention Centre in the port city. Central and regional BGMEA leaders, senior officials of CCC and other dignitaries from the business houses and garment owners, among others, were present on the occasion. As per the MoU, the apparel zone will be set up on the CCC’s 10.36 acres of land at a cost of Tk 3.0 billion. The CCC will implement the project and it will be fully financed by the intending garment factory owners.

The apparel zone will have 10 buildings of seven-storey each, and each floor of each building will have 20,000 square feet space. Each building will have four stairs, four lifts, warehouse facilities on the ground floor, canteen on the top floor, day care centre, health care and, drinking water facility. It will also have cargo lift, prayer hall, sewerage facility, automatic generator, power plant, recreation centre, gas supply and other modern facilities. The garment factories in Chittagong, which are identified as non-compliant by Accord and Alliance, a foreign buyers’ forum, will be prioritised for relocation in the zone. The BGMEA and the CCC will later fix the terms and conditions of rental issues and sign a contract in this regard for a period of 40 years. First BGMEA Vice President Moinuddin Ahmed Mintu said a good number of garment factories in Chittagong were found non-compliant by the Accord and the Alliance following Dhaka’s Rana Plaza collapse. At least 50 small and medium size garment industries in the shared or rented houses will be relocated to the apparel zone by mid -2018. This will also help a lot towards achieving the target of exporting readymade garments (RMG) worth US$ 50.0 billion by 2021.

The garment industry in Bangladesh started with the launching of Desh Garments at Kalurghat in Chittagong in 1978 but it could not grow as expected in Chittagong. The port city’s share in the country’s RMG export came down to 9 per cent from 40 per cent for multiple reasons, including infrastructure, electricity and gas shortage. The local garment manufacturers and exporters have long been urging the government, CCC, port authority, district administration and railway authority for allocating land for a separate apparel zone. Earlier in October last year, the BGMEA leadership made a successful meeting with newly -elected City Mayor AJM Nasir Uddin. Mayor Nasir then assured them of providing the CCC land measuring 10.36 acres unused for over three decades.

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