Chinese firms offer $70m in green energy, RMG and footwear

Two Chinese firms have proposed a total $70 million investment in Bangladesh for renewable energy, apparel, and footwear manufacturing, said the authorities.      

The companies – Guopu Renewable Energy Technology and Hangshou JY Supply Chain – submitted the investment proposals to the Bangladesh embassy in Beijing that have been forwarded to Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (Bida), said Bida officials.

According to the proposals, Guopu is interested to invest around $50 million in solar and wind power. The company has requested to arrange 200 acres of land and water bodies where they would install the green energy generating units.

The second company Hangshou offers a $15-20 million investment in Chattogram'sBangabandhu Sheikh MujibShilpa Nagar (BSMSN) economic zone to set up garment and footwear making industries. It has requested 20 acres of land in the economic zone.  

Like the Chinese firms, Bida officials said it has received a number of investment proposals centering on the "Bangladesh Investment Summit 2021" slated for Sunday.

"Investment proposals have started to pour in and we expect that would increase after the summit aims at attracting foreign investors," Bida Executive Chairman MdSirazul Islam told The Business Standard Saturday.

"Foreign investors are not very aware of how much Bangladesh has changed. Our target is to showcase the success story of Bangladesh in front of them. Our expectation is to increase the foreign investment to 3% of the GDP, which is now less than 1%," he added.

Currently, Bangladesh is producing around 542MW electricity from different types of solar projects in both off-grid and on-grid areas.

Of those, the largest portion of power comes from solar home systems set up in off-grid households while seven solar parks across the country hold the second largest position with a capacity of 130MW.

But wind power projects are yet to receive visible success as three wind energy projects with a combined capacity of 2.9MW remain idle. The plants are in Feni and Kutubdia.

Hangshou to generate at least 15,000 jobs

The investment proposal of Hangshou JY Supply Chain Co Ltd states that the company will build a garment factory on 12 acres and a footwear factory 8 on acres of land in the economic zone.

The proposal said the investment will generate more than 15,000 jobs. The factories will be under "Tech International Limited".   

The apparel list includes trousers, coats, jackets, shirts, blouses, and baby garments.

Hangshou's products are mainly exported to Europe and the US, and the company has established close relations with large chain supermarkets such as Walmart and Decathlon. The company has branches in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Paris.