Bangladesh has special zones built for exporters. Who works there, which three types of factory you will meet, and why the export rules still follow them inside the fence.
Eliana has just moved to her bank's export desk. On her first morning, a new file lands on her table: a sweater factory inside an Export Processing Zone, owned by a company from Korea.
"Do the normal export rules even apply inside a zone?" she wonders. "It feels like a different country in there, with its own gate and its own guards."
That afternoon, the bank holds a training session. The guest speaker is Dr Omar: an economist and university professor, and a retired government officer who once served as Chairman of the Bangladesh Investment Board. Eliana asks her question. Dr Omar smiles. "Different gate, same rules for the money. But first you need to know which kind of factory you are dealing with. In a zone, that one question decides a lot."
Part A of the export room ended with Lesson 9, Getting paid early: discounting, assignment and insurance. This lesson starts Part B of the export circular: exports from the specialized zones.
Bangladesh has four kinds of specialized zones, each set up under its own law:
Export Processing Zones (EPZs), under the Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority Act, 1980;
Private Export Processing Zones (PEPZs), under the Bangladesh Private Export Processing Zones Authority Act, 1980;
Economic Zones (EZs), under the Bangladesh Economic Zones Act, 2010;
Hi-Tech Parks (HTPs), under the Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority Act, 2010.
The factories inside come in three types, based on who owns them:
Type A: 100% foreign owned. This includes companies owned by Bangladeshis who normally live abroad.
Type B: a joint venture between foreign owners and Bangladeshi owners who live in Bangladesh.
Type C: 100% owned by Bangladeshis who live in Bangladesh.
One more group counts as a zone factory for foreign exchange purposes: developers and service companies (water supply, cleaning, dust control, effluent treatment and so on), as long as they were formed and registered only to serve that particular zone.
At the desk
At the training, Dr Omar puts three cases on the screen. A Korean-owned sweater maker: Type A. A shoe factory owned half by a Japanese company and half by a Dhaka family: Type B. A packaging plant in an economic zone owned by Bangladeshis living in Bangladesh: Type C. "And the company that runs the zone's water treatment plant, set up only for this zone?" Eliana asks. "For foreign exchange, treat it like a zone factory too," says Dr Omar.
Key words
Specialized zones
Areas set up by law for industry and export: EPZs, private EPZs, economic zones and hi-tech parks.
EPZ
Export Processing Zone: a fenced industrial area run by the Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority, mainly for exporters.
Type A enterprise
A zone factory that is 100% foreign owned, including one owned by Bangladeshis who normally live abroad.
Type B enterprise
A zone factory owned jointly by foreign owners and Bangladeshi owners living in Bangladesh.
Type C enterprise
A zone factory 100% owned by Bangladeshis living in Bangladesh.
Joint venture
A business owned together by two or more partners, here foreign and local.
Read the rule as written (Para B-1)
There are different specialized zones operating in Bangladesh. They are Export Processing Zones (EPZs) established by the Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority Act, 1980; Private Export Processing Zones (PEPZs) established by the Bangladesh Private Export Processing Zones Authority Act, 1980; Economic Zones (EZs) established by the Bangladesh Economic Zones Act, 2010; and Hi-Tech Parks (HTPs) established by the Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority Act, 2010. The following types of industrial enterprises operate in the specialized zones:
(a) Type A: 100 percent foreign owned including those owned by Bangladeshi nationals ordinarily resident abroad;
(b) Type B: Joint venture projects between foreign and Bangladesh entrepreneurs resident in Bangladesh; and
(c) Type C: 100 percent Bangladeshi entrepreneurs resident in Bangladesh. Developers and different service providing companies (water supply/treatment, cleaning, dust management, effluent treatment plant, etc.) operating in specialized zones, exclusively formed and registered to serve a particular zone will be treated as industrial enterprises of zones for foreign exchange regulation purposes.
Source: Bangladesh Bank, FEPD-1 Circular No. 26, 30 July 2026, Part B, paragraph 1 (page 18). The original circular is the authority.
A zone has its own gate, but the export rules follow the goods out of it. Exports from specialized zones need the usual EXP form, and the exporter must bring the export money home, just like any exporter outside a zone.
So everything you learned in Part A about declaring exports and repatriating proceeds applies here too.
At the desk
A Type A factory's manager tells Eliana, "We are foreign owned, so surely the money can stay with our head office abroad?" Eliana, now confident, explains: the export still needs an EXP form, and the proceeds must come home through the bank. Ownership changes some details, not that promise.
Key words
EXP form
The export declaration form. Every export, unless exempt, must have one.
Repatriation
Bringing export money back into Bangladesh through a bank.
Read the rule as written (Para B-2)
Exports from specialized zones are subject to the usual requirement of declaration of exports in EXP Form and repatriation of export proceeds.
Source: Bangladesh Bank, FEPD-1 Circular No. 26, 30 July 2026, Part B, paragraph 2 (page 18). The original circular is the authority.
Once the export money arrives, where does it go? The circular says the proceeds are released to the exporting enterprise's foreign currency accounts, following the rules in Part P of the same circular.
B-3 doesn't spell out the details itself; they sit in Part P, which this room will reach later. For now, remember the path: money home first, then into the enterprise's foreign currency account under Part P.
At the desk
Eliana asks how much of the sweater factory's dollars it may keep. Dr Omar smiles. "Part B only tells you where the money goes: the factory's foreign currency account. The details of the release sit in Part P, and this room will get there later."
Key words
Foreign currency account
A bank account held in a foreign currency, such as US dollars, rather than Taka.
Proceeds
The money received from a sale, here the payment for exported goods.
Read the rule as written (Para B-3)
Export proceeds against export of exporting enterprises will be released to their foreign currency accounts in accordance with Part-P of this circular.
Source: Bangladesh Bank, FEPD-1 Circular No. 26, 30 July 2026, Part B, paragraph 3 (page 18). The original circular is the authority.
So far: Bangladesh has four kinds of specialized zones (EPZs, private EPZs, economic zones and hi-tech parks). The factories inside are Type A (fully foreign owned, including by Bangladeshis living abroad), Type B (joint ventures) or Type C (fully Bangladeshi owned), and zone-only developers and service companies count as zone factories too. Exports from zones still need the EXP form and must bring the money home; the proceeds go into the enterprise's foreign currency account under Part P.
Next: Lesson 11, Money, discounting and selling to the zones. How zone factories' bills can be discounted, and why a sale from a local mill to a zone factory counts as an export.
Check yourself
30 questions, in 3 sets of up to 10. Nobody sees your answers but you.
Set 1 of 3
B-1 names EPZs, private EPZs, economic zones and hi-tech parks.
B-1(a): Type A enterprises are 100% foreign owned.
B-1(b): Type B is a joint venture between foreign owners and Bangladeshi owners resident in Bangladesh.
B-1(c): Type C enterprises are 100% owned by Bangladeshi entrepreneurs resident in Bangladesh.
B-1(a): Type A includes enterprises owned by Bangladeshi nationals ordinarily resident abroad.
False. B-1(a) includes enterprises owned by Bangladeshi nationals ordinarily resident abroad.
B-1 sorts zone enterprises by ownership: fully foreign (or non-resident Bangladeshi), joint venture, or fully resident Bangladeshi.
B-1: developers and service companies formed and registered exclusively to serve a particular zone are treated as zone industrial enterprises for FX regulation.
False. B-1 covers service companies formed and registered exclusively to serve a particular zone.
B-1 gives water supply, cleaning, dust management and effluent treatment as examples of zone service providers.
Set 2 of 3
B-1: EPZs are established under the Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority Act.
A joint venture is a business owned together by partners; in B-1(b), foreign and resident Bangladeshi owners.
B-1: EZs are established by the Bangladesh Economic Zones Act, 2010.
B-1: HTPs are established by the Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority Act, 2010.
B-2: exports from specialized zones are subject to the usual EXP declaration.
True. B-2: zone exports are subject to the usual requirement of repatriating export proceeds.
B-2 applies the usual EXP and repatriation rules to all zone exports, whatever the ownership type.
Repatriation means bringing the export money home. B-2 applies this to zone exports too.
Part A sets the general guidelines; B-2 says the usual EXP and repatriation requirements apply to zones too.
B-3: export proceeds are released to the exporting enterprise's foreign currency accounts in line with Part P.
Set 3 of 3
B-3 points to Part P of the circular for the release of proceeds.
B-3 only says proceeds are released to the enterprise's foreign currency accounts in accordance with Part P.
False. B-3 only says proceeds go to foreign currency accounts in line with Part P; Part P sets the details.
A foreign currency account holds money in a currency such as US dollars. B-3 sends zone export proceeds there, under Part P.
B-1: Type A is fully foreign (or non-resident Bangladeshi), Type B a joint venture, Type C fully resident Bangladeshi.
B-2: zone exports follow the usual EXP and repatriation rules.
True. B-1 lists EPZs, Private EPZs, economic zones and hi-tech parks.
B-1 sorts zone enterprises by ownership for foreign exchange purposes; for example, B-4 in the next lesson covers bills of Type A and Type B enterprises only.
B-1: developers formed and registered exclusively to serve a particular zone are treated as zone industrial enterprises for FX purposes.
B-1 to B-3: four kinds of zones, three types of enterprise, the usual EXP and repatriation rules, and proceeds released under Part P.
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