Bangladesh, China launch long-delayed industrial zone

Bangladesh launched on Monday the construction of a long-delayed industrial zone near the port city of Chattogram, a joint venture with China.

Officials from both countries inaugurated the Chinese Economic and Industrial Zone (CEIZ), an 800-acre development first agreed more than a decade ago.  Bangladesh's Finance and Planning Minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury said the industrial zone would support the country's ambition of becoming a trillion-dollar economy by 2034. Beijing's ambassador to Bangladesh, Yao Wen, described the CEIZ as a flagship project, saying delegations from more than 100 Chinese companies had already visited the site.