The former ICT state minister, Zunaid Ahmed Palak, had boasted in 2016 that sprawling IT park in Kaliakoir would employ up to a million people over 10 years.

Currently, investors in the EZs and hi-tech parks qualify for a tax break for a decade starting from the first year of their operations. They are entitled to a full tax waiver in the first three years.

Investors in the economic zones and hi-tech parks in Bangladesh may see an end to the zero-duty benefit on imports of capital machinery, components and construction materials next fiscal year.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today announced that her government will turn the country into 'Smart Bangladesh' by 2041.