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The Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority is the implementation agency of this project, spanning five fiscal years.

The foundation stone for this project was laid by President Xi Jinping during his landmark visit to Bangladesh on October 14, 2016, marking Bangladesh’s formal entry into China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

The two governments signed a memorandum of understanding titled “Strengthening Investment and Production Capacity Cooperation”, after which the Bangladesh government acquired 800 acres of land for the Chinese economic zone.

Despite the high-profile diplomatic launch in 2016, the exclusive economic enclave remained functionally stalled for nearly a decade.

In 2023, the Bangladesh government appointed the China Road and Bridge Corporation as the contractor to develop the external infrastructure of the CEIZ.

According to a draft of the project proposal obtained by The Daily Star, the project gained fresh momentum after the Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority placed it before the Planning Commission on May 6, 2025.

The commission evaluated the proposal the same month, identified compliance gaps and inconsistencies, and sent it back to the Chief Adviser’s Office.

The government submitted a revised development project proforma (DPP) in August last year with a lower cost estimate of Tk 3,859.89 crore, but this version too was shot down by the commission for non-compliance with the initial guidelines of the project.

The procedural deadlock was finally broken on May 21, 2026, when a fully reconstructed DPP was submitted before the commission.

This final proposal reflected an overall cost increase of Tk 133.31 crore compared to the original draft submitted in May 2025.

A project evaluation committee cleared the new DPP on June 2 this year, paving the way for its upcoming presentation at Ecnec.

According to the revised proposal, 41.1 percent of the project will be funded by the Bangladesh government, and the remaining 58.89 percent will come from project loans.

The project summary document prepared for the Ecnec states that a $260.21 million loan is in the pipeline to develop supporting infrastructure for the CEIZ under the preferential buyer’s credit programme.

According to the terms of the loan, China will finance 85 percent, while the other 15 percent has to come from domestic co-financing.

Furthermore, components covered by the Chinese loan must be implemented by a contractor or agency appointed by the Chinese Government.

According to the proposal, the majority of the financing is expected to begin from fiscal year 2027.

The infrastructure components that will probably be tabled at Ecnec on Tuesday include a 1235-metre long jetty link road, a 330-metre bridge, a 1181-metre long CEIZ link road, a 20,304 cubic-meter water reservoir, a district gas regulating station with a 4.24 million cubic feet per day capacity, a 2km gas transmission line, a central effluent treatment plant with a capacity of 25 million litres per day and a 1.2km discharge pipeline, a solid waste collection station with a capacity of 60 tonnes per day, a multipurpose jetty with 20,000 deadweight tonne capacity, two 33/11 kilovolt substations, and 20km of transmission lines and 12km of boundary walls.

“Anwara upazila of Chattogram has been selected as the project area for establishing CEIZ, which is highly logical and strategically important from both geographical and economic perspectives. This area is located close to Bangladesh’s largest seaport (Chattogram Port), the Karnaphuli River Tunnel, Shah Amanat International Airport, and the industrial zones of the port city of Chattogram,” said the project proposal signed by Nurunnahar Chowdhury, member (secretary) of the Planning Commission’s Industry and Energy Division.