Sheikh Hasina invites Indian cos to Bangla SEZs

DHAKA: Prime minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina invited Indian companies to invest in the proposed special economic zones (SEZ) in the neighbouring country, and favoured the reopening of Bangladesh-India passenger train services to boost trade between the two countries.

The train services linking the two countries had stopped in 1965 following the Indo-Pak war when Bangladesh was part of the eastern wing of Pakistan. Ms Hasina said her government was keen on reopening the cross-border rail service and that she had already discussed the proposal with railway minister Mamata Banerjee.

���The government plans to build SEZs offering infrastructure facilities and tax holidays where Indian businessmen, like others, can also invest,��� Ms Hasina said while addressing a 50-member Indian business delegation led by Ficci to Bangladesh. The delegation proposed setting up of SEZs in the bordering area exclusively for Indian investments.

The export processing zones (EPZs) are already in place in Comilla, Feni and Syedpur. Indian companies can invest in EPZs as they are close to the Bangladesh-India frontier, she added. While EPZ is just an industrial enclave with fewer tax benefits, SEZ is a tax-free integrated township.