Karnaphuli EPZ records exports worth $14.16b

Karnaphuli Export Processing Zone (Karnaphuli EPZ) has set a significant milestone by exporting goods worth more than $14.16 billion in the two decades since its establishment.

The EPZ, which began operations in September 2006, recorded the total export volume up to August this year.

The figure was disclosed at a press briefing held at the BEPZA Zone Office at the EPZ on Saturday, marking two decades of the industrial zone’s operations. According to EPZ authorities, exports stood at just $9.86 million in the 2007-08 fiscal year. 

Unlike many export-oriented industrial zones, Karnaphuli EPZ’s exports are not limited to the apparel sector. Its factories produce and export tents and camping products, bicycles, leather goods and bags, furniture, undergarments, fashion and safety shoes, among other products. Products made at the Patenga-based EPZ are supplied to global brands including Timberland, H&M, Zara (Inditex), Uniqlo, Next (UK), Nike, Adidas, Puma, Decathlon and Ralph Lauren.

BEPZA Executive Director (Public Relations) Abu Syeed Md Anwar Parvez and Karnaphuli EPZ Executive Director Mahbub Ahmed Siddiqui presented a PowerPoint presentation and video highlighting the zone’s transformation, investment and export activities, employment generation and contribution to the country’s socio-economic development.

Since its inauguration by then Prime Minister Khaleda Zia in 2006, the EPZ has attracted $778.33 million in domestic and foreign investment.

Currently, 40 industrial units are fully operational, 29 of which are 100% foreign-owned. Investors from 14 countries, including China, South Korea, India, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, are operating factories there.

Around 80,000 workers are directly employed at the EPZ, with women accounting for about 60% of the workforce. Another 1 lakh people are estimated to have indirect employment linked to the industrial zone.

BEPZA currently operates eight EPZs and two economic zones in Bangladesh, covering a total area of 3,550.03 acres – just 0.01% of the country’s total area, but they contributed 17.51% of Bangladesh’s total export earnings in FY26. Up to August this year, goods worth $129 billion had been exported from BEPZA-operated zones, said the authorities.

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Campvalley Global Ltd CEO Lee Hongwoo said that the company was continuing its plans for new investment in Bangladesh, building on the support it had received since 2010.

BEPZA Member (Investment Promotion) Md Tanvir Hossain said that there was a lack of clear understanding among officials of various government agencies, including the National Board of Revenue (NBR), about the operations of EPZs.

“People often tell me at different forums that everything in EPZs is tax-free. But we waive corporate tax for five to seven years. After that, companies pay taxes of up to 40% to 50%,” he said.

“It is not that we provide every facility in EPZs free of charge,” said Hossain.