Bangladesh’s investment framework now begins with the Invest Bangladesh Act, 2026 for matters previously described as economic-zone or BEZA investment. The Act records a transition in institutional responsibilities and establishes the statutory setting for industrial areas. For a proposed investment, however, the Act and an industrial-area label answer different questions. The legal position of a particular location turns on the relevant Gazette notification, including its land description, together with the project posture and any applicable current instrument. The same distinction applies to facilities and incentives: the Act authorises the Government to provide them by Gazette notification, but does not itself allocate a benefit to a particular site or investor. The framework must therefore be read alongside the record governing the proposed project.
Why the statutory record matters
The 2026 Act and institutional transition
The Invest Bangladesh Act, 2026 is recorded as Act No. 104 of 2026, dated 16 July 2026. The official legal record states that it took effect on 20 August 2026 under S.R.O. No. 307-Law/2026.1 It is the statutory starting point for a question described in earlier terminology as an economic-zone or BEZA question.
Section 66 repeals the Bangladesh Economic Zones Act, 2010 and dissolves the former Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA), Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) and Public Private Partnership Authority (PPPA), subject to the Act’s continuity and transfer provisions.1 A record from before 20 August 2026 may therefore be relevant to transition, but does not by itself state the present framework.
The statutory term and its English label
Industrial area is used here as an editorial English label for the Act’s Bengali statutory term শিল্পাঞ্চল. The Act provides that the Bengali text prevails if there is an inconsistency with an authentic English text.1
Industrial-area status depends on the statutory record
The Act provides a framework for Government establishment of several categories of industrial area, including public, private, public-private-partnership, government-to-government, inter-agency and specified free-trade-zone arrangements.1 The presence of a category in the statute does not identify any particular location with that category.
Section 16 provides for declaration of an industrial area through a Government Gazette notification that identifies the land by a specific description.1 A reference to an economic zone, industrial area or similar label therefore does not itself resolve the legal status or boundary of a named site. The operative Gazette record and the position of the particular project remain distinct questions.
Different project postures under the Act
The 2026 Act contains separate provisions bearing on industrial areas, developers and operators, public-private-partnership projects and government-to-government arrangements.1 The same industrial-area label does not collapse an industrial-unit investment question into a developer, operator, PPP or G2G question.
The relevant statutory posture may be that of a prospective industrial-unit investor, a developer or operator candidate, a PPP participant, or a participant in a G2G arrangement. Each is a distinct statutory context; the label alone does not determine the applicable route, selection arrangement, project document or outcome.1
Public service information and project entitlement
Invest Bangladesh’s public site displays service headings for commercial offices, domestic projects, foreign and joint-venture projects, and post-investment support.3 Its launch announcement states that Invest Bangladesh began operations following publication of the Gazette notification and describes the institutional merger of BIDA, BEZA and PPPA.2
BanglaBiz describes itself as a unified Government gateway for business licences and permits, and its public navigation distinguishes investment-promotion agencies including Invest Bangladesh, BEPZA and BHTPA.4 These materials identify public service navigation. The applicable authority, eligibility, sequence, availability, fee and timing for an individual industrial-area project remain questions of the applicable record and project facts.3
Facilities and incentives require the relevant notification
The Act permits the Government to provide specified special customs facilities and financial or non-financial incentives by Gazette notification.1 This is a statutory power, rather than a statement that an investor or site receives any particular facility or incentive.
The Act alone does not establish a rate, period, qualification, exemption, transitional treatment or continuing benefit for a particular project. Those matters depend on the relevant notification and the facts to which it applies.1
Transitional continuity under the new framework
The Act provides transitional treatment for earlier actions and provides that rules and regulations made under the repealed Economic Zones, PPP and BIDA Acts may continue until new rules and regulations are made, but only to the extent that they do not conflict with the 2026 Act.1
That provision does not restore the former BEZA framework as the current framework. A legacy rule, register, portal page or other pre-transition material may require a specific continuing-effect and conflict analysis under the 2026 Act. The applicable current instrument and the project facts remain decisive.1
Reading the industrial-area framework in context
The 2026 Act supplies the present statutory frame for industrial-area investment questions, while the Gazette declaration, the project’s statutory posture and any relevant current instrument determine how that frame applies. Earlier BEZA materials may remain relevant to transition under the Act’s continuity provisions, but they do not displace the new framework. For facilities and incentives, the statutory power operates through the relevant Gazette notification rather than through the Act alone.1
Sources and date checked
The legal position stated here is current as at 21 September 2026. The Invest Bangladesh Act, 2026 is the controlling primary source cited below. Its Bengali text prevails in the event of an inconsistency with an authentic English text, and later Gazette instruments, rules, regulations, guidelines or project records may affect the position.1