The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exports Association (BGMEA) and Orient International, Chinese trading company has entered into an agreement to develop Baushia Garment Park in Munshiganj. The Chinese company has agreed to the investment in a bid to improve non-compliant facilities in garment factories.

The industrial park will be built on 470 acres of land in Gazaria at an approximate cost of $1.2 billion. The industrial park will have 577 plots for apparel units, which will be distributed on a first-come-first-serve basis, and has the potential to provide work for 30,000 people.

The park, set to be completed by June 2016, will give priority to a number of factories which are listed as non-compliant in a bid to establish them as fully compliant garment manufacturers. Orient International’s backing will cover both land development and utility service funding, ready for factories to move in upon completion.

According to Reaz Bin Mahmood is the vice president of BGMEA, talks about the project have been ongoing for the past decade, but the Tazreen Fashions fire in 2012 and the Rana Plaza disaster in 2013 kick-started the initiative. In May, the BGMEA began appealing for funding from garment factories, and also requested financial support from the World Bank.

Less than a month following this, it gained recognition from the likes of Orient International who carried out a pre-feasibility study and signed the $1.2 billion agreement.

A memorandum of understanding for the industrial park has been signed with the Chinese company in the presence of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang.

The new garment park will have roads, water, power and gas supply, telecommunication, effluent treatment plant, transportations, hospital, hotels and factory sheds.