Monday, November 22, 2010

Largest shoe plant in the making

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=135914

Largest shoe plant in the making

Abdullah Al Mahmud, back from Anowara

A $110 million shoe factory is being set up at the Korean Export Processing Zone (KEPZ), with remarkable progress in infrastructure development in the last two years.

Karnaphuli Shoe Industries Ltd, a company of Korea-based Youngone Group, will be the largest in Bangladesh with a monthly production capacity of 30 million pairs. Sixteen buildings are being built on two adjoining hills to house the factory.

The factory will provide employment for 32,000 people to work in 72 production lines, said Lt Col (retd) Md Shahjahan, general manager of KEPZ Corporation (BD) Ltd, another company of Youngone Group. KEPZ Corporation (BD) Ltd is in charge of developing the EPZ.

It will go for trial production after four of the eight buildings on the lower lap are completed by September, he said.

Karnaphuli Shoe Industries is setting up the factory to encourage other intended entrepreneurs into the sector and address the initial setbacks that one might face in setting up a factory at the newly developed EPZ site, Shahjahan said.

A total of 2,700 acres were allocated through gazette notification back in 2000 to develop the EPZ on the bank of the river Karnaphuli in Anowara upazila.

Seventy-five percent of the land was government-owned, while the rest 25 percent had to be acquired from private owners, the official said. Of 2,700 acres of the allocated land, 2,492 acres have so far been handed over to KEPZ.

However, the authorities could not develop infrastructure or initiate construction of any factory before operating licences were issued in 2007, Shahjahan said.

“After that, we proceeded with infrastructure development, keeping the hilly landscape almost undisturbed.”

“We will have about 1,200 acres to develop industrial plots in separate blocks of different industries, and preserve the rest of the land in its original state.”

“So far, 20 to 21 kilometres of roadways have been constructed for better connectivity surrounding the whole project site,” he said.

The authorities also planted 12.5 lakh trees to offer natural tranquility inside the premises.

“In addition, we developed 17 lakes on about 130 acres of land to get water at the project site, as ground-water level is far below,” Shahjahan said.

“We have an estimated budget of $200 million to develop infrastructure, excluding utility services. About 600 people are working here without any output until now,” he said.

“We could have made further progress if required utility, including gas and power, were ensured,” he said.

Moreover, a lack of clarity in several private EPZ rules and import permits for equipment of the industrial units also contributed to the slow progress in implementing the KEPZ, he said.

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