As many as eight manufacturing units in two export processing zones (EPZs) in the port city of Chittagong had to shut down owing to the fallouts of the coronavirus pandemic even as five more manufacturing units may close down soon due to the pandemic.
Media reports maintained this while adding that the eight factories — six of the factories are based in the Chittagong EPZ, of which four have Bangladeshi owners and two are owned by Danish companies while of the two more factories in the Karnaphuli EPZ, one has an Indian owner while the other belongs to a UK company – have closed down due to various reasons including declining export orders and inability to pay workers’ wages on time.
The six Chittagong EPZ-based units that shut down are namely Mithun Knitting and Dyeing Ltd., A&B Outwear Ltd., Wink Co Ltd., Norms Outfit Ltd., Peninsula Garments Ltd. and Cold Play Ltd., while the two factories that closed down in the Karnaphuli EPZ are, reportedly, Valtex Ltd., which was owned by a UK company, and the Indian-owned PRM Fashion Ltd.
Meanwhile, speaking to the media, General Secretary of Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority’s (BEPZA) zonal executive committee, Azizul Bari Chowdhury Jinnah, reportedly, maintained that factories that closed in the EPZ were far less than the number of factories closed outside.
