Economic, free trade zones, terminals, deep-sea port are reshaping region
1 August 2026, 00:00 AM
Mohammad Suman
Bangladesh is betting on the Chattogram coast to power its next phase of export-led growth, with a wave of public and private investment reshaping the region into the country’s largest industrial corridor.Once centred around Dhaka and Gazipur, industrialisation is now spreading across the two banks of the Karnaphuli and the coastal belt from Patenga and Anwara to Mirsharai and Matarbari.While efforts are underway to attract more investment by expanding port operations, experts say the region continues to face broader infrastructure and logistics challenges, including poor road and rail connectivity, limited multimodal transport, inadequate logistics infrastructure and delays in completing supporting projects.Government plans envision Chattogram as an integrated industrial-export corridor by 2031, supporting Bangladesh’s ambition to raise annual exports to more than $110 billion by then and over $300 billion by 2041.That vision runs through the Perspective Plan of Bangladesh 2021-2041, the Export Policy 2024-27, and the development blueprints of the Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA), Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (BEPZA), and Chittagong Port Authority (CPA).The Export Policy has set an interim export target of $67 billion for FY2026-27, but the longer-term strategy hinges on building a seamless production ecosystem where imported raw materials move quickly from port to factory and finished goods flow back to the port for export.Economists and business leaders say the challenge now is no longer attracting factories alone, but ensuring the logistics system can keep pace.
