Exports from Bangladesh's six export processing zones (EPZs) increased 12.5 percent to $1.35 billion in the 2003/04 fiscal year, a senior official said on Wednesday.
"We achieved 12.5 percent export growth during the 2003/04 fiscal year," Nazma Binte Alamgir, manager of Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority said.
The exports represented about 18 percent of Bangladesh's total exports in 2003/2004 of $7.6 billion and compared with $1.2 billion in fiscal 2002/03.
Bangladesh's fiscal year runs from July to June.
The country offers a 10-year tax holiday to companies in the export zones on both imports and exports, and allows investors to repatriate all of their profits.
The EPZs employ 134,000 Bangladeshis, most of whom are women, and 1,000 foreigners, Nazma said. Another 10,000 jobs would be created in the current fiscal year. She said $700 million has been invested in the zones, mostly from foreign companies, in businesses whose exports include garments, electrical goods and electronics, and auto parts.
Bangladesh's total exports grew more than 16 percent in 2003/04 from a year earlier, data from the Export Promotion Bureau officials shows.
Comments
Comments are closed.