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Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA), with the support of local and international agencies, looks to improve living standard of people residing nearby a special economic zone at Araihazar upazila in Narayanganj.
To this effect, BEZA has inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Bangladesh Special Economic Zone (BSEZ) Limited, Sumitomo Corporation and BRAC.
BEZA Executive Chairman Shaikh Yusuf Harun, Managing Director of BSEZ and Sumitomo Corporation Taro Kawachi and Executive Director of BRAC Bangladesh Asif Saleh signed the MoU at a ceremony held at the BEZA headquarters in the city on Tuesday.
The MoU aims to provide the people residing in the BSEZ neighbourhood with required training in tune with the demand for manufacturing, construction and other sectors through Technical, Vocational, Education and Training (TVET) framework.
The collaboration will provide pre-primary and primary education among people residing around the BSEZ, which is also known as Japanese Economic Zone.
The people will also be provided with the opportunity to avail financial services like loans, savings, microcredit and insurance through digital platforms.
Workers employed in different industrial units and local people will also get amenities like skill development programs, health care and day-care facilities.
BEZA officials said the BSEZ has already started undertaking different social programmes under its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
Speaking on the occasion, BEZA executive chairman said the construction of BSEZ has already started contributing to socio-economic development and employment generation in the localities.
The cordial support of the local people will accelerate the development of BSEZ, he added.
The Japanese Economic Zone -- the first government to government EZ -- is being established on 1,000 acres of land to accommodate foreign investment, specially the Japan-based companies. Some 300 acres of land has already been developed. The BSEZ is expected to fetch in around $1.0 billion of investment from Japanese brands.