The groundbreaking ceremony of the Chinese Economic and Industrial Zone (CEIZ) will be held at Anwara in Chattogram tomorrow, marking the formal launch of one of Bangladesh's largest foreign investment projects aimed at accelerating industrialisation and strengthening economic cooperation with China.
Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury is expected to attend the ceremony as the chief guest, while Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed will be present as the special guest. The event will begin at 11:30 am with the arrival of guests, followed by welcome remarks from the Bangladesh CEIZ Company Limited (BCCL) chairman.
The ceremony will feature an audio-visual presentation on the CEIZ project and speeches by the President of China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC), the Member of Parliament for Chattogram-13 (Anwara-Karnaphuli), the Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh, the Executive Chairman of the Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA), and the two ministers. A sub-lease agreement will also be signed during the programme.
The event will conclude with the unveiling of the CEIZ slogan, the launch of One-Stop Service, the official groundbreaking of the project, and a tree plantation programme. The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) recently approved a supporting infrastructure development project for the economic zone.
The project, to be implemented by BEZA, will include construction of a jetty link road, internal road network, water reservoir, gas transmission facilities, Central Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP), multipurpose jetty, solid waste collection station, boundary wall and power substations. The infrastructure project will be implemented from January 2027 to December 2031 at an estimated cost of Tk 4,189 crore.
Of the total, Tk 2,467 crore is expected to come through foreign financing, while Tk 1,722 crore will be provided by the government. The foreign financing is proposed under the Preferential Buyer's Credit (PBC) facility of the Export-Import Bank of China. The CEIZ is being established on about 783 acres of land on the eastern bank of the Karnaphuli River in Anwara under a government-to-government (G2G) initiative between Bangladesh and China.
Once operational, the economic zone is expected to attract at least $500 million in foreign direct investment (FDI), create more than 100,000 direct and indirect jobs, promote export-oriented industries and develop Chattogram into a modern industrial and logistics hub. Strategically located near the Chattogram Port and Shah Amanat International Airport, the CEIZ is expected to play a significant role in enhancing Bangladesh's industrial competitiveness and further strengthening Bangladesh-China economic partnership.
