Singer BD to invest $78m in N'ganj EZ

Singer Bangladesh Limited will invest US$78 million in Bangladesh Special Economic Zone (EZ) in Araihazar, Narayanganj, as it formally launched construction of its product-manufacturing plant on Monday.

Singer Bangladesh, whose major share is owned by Turkish conglomerate Arcelik, is likely to start production at this plant by the end of next year - 2023, said Bedoura Farhana, head of marketing communication of Singer Bangladesh.

Singer, which currently assembles different home appliances for Bangladesh, will produce 90 per cent of its required products for Bangladesh at the proposed unit at the economic zone in Araihazar.

The Turkish conglomerate Arcelik, a subsidiary of Koc Holding in Turkey, is a leading global player in the home appliance industry, with 21 manufacturing facilities in eight countries across the world.

The special economic zone at Narayanganj's Araihazar is now being developed under a Tk 25.82 billion cost development project of the Bangladesh government, in order to attract local and foreign investments. The economic zone was previously known as the Japan Special Economic Zone.

Turkish Ambassador to Bangladesh Mustafa Osman Turan, President of Durable Goods Companies of Koc Holding Dr Fatih Kemal Ebiclioglu, Chief Commercial Officer of Arcelik Cemal Can Dinçer, Managing Director and CEO of Singer M H M Fairoz, Executive Member of Bangladesh Economic Zone Authority (BEZA) Abdul Azim Chowdhury and Director for the Economic Zone Development Project Saleh Ahmed attended the inauguration ceremony.

Project Director Mr Saleh Ahmed told the FE that they had also got investment proposals from different foreign companies which would start plant construction by next year.

Singer Bangladesh Limited said they would build their plant on 135,000 square metres of land at the special economic zone.

The company claimed that the plant would create some 4,000 jobs.

Singer will produce different home appliances, including television, refrigerator, washing machine and air conditioner, in the proposed plant.

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