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BGMEA Complex
বিজিএমইএ কমপ্লেক্স
BGMEA Complex in 2024
Former names	BGMEA Bhaban
General information
Status	Completed
Type	Twin-tower
Address	Avenue 6, Sector 17, Uttara
Town or city	Dhaka
Country	Bangladesh
Coordinates	23°50′53″N 90°22′15″E / 23.848194°N 90.370774°E / 23.848194; 90.370774
Inaugurated	2019
Owner	BGMEA
Landlord	RAJUK
Height
Top floor	club, swimming pool, seminar room
Technical details
Floor count	13
Other information
Parking	Yes
Public transit access	Uttara South

BGMEA Complex is a office building that served as the headquarters of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association and is located in Uttara, Dhaka.

Previous location

The foundation of the previous headquarters was placed in 1998 by then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. In 2006 it was inaugurated by then Prime Minister Khaleda Zia. Sheikh Hasina claimed that the first Hasina ministry allocated site near Pan Pacific Sonargaon for the headquarters. But the building was built illegally on canal land in Hatirjheel. In 2011 Bangladesh High Court ordered the building to be demolished. The High Court in its verdict declared ”The BGMEA Bhaban is like a cancer in the Hatirjheel project and if the building is not taken down immediately, it will infect not just Hatirjheel, but the entire city of Dhaka”. A four-member bench of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh led by chief justice Surendra Kumar Sinha upheld the verdict of the High Court in 2016. It was sealed off by the RAJUK in 2019. The demolition was started in 2020.

Shift to the new building

In 2017, the court gave six months to demolish the building. It was known that officials of the BGMEA preferred Uttara as the new site for their headquarters as it is near to the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport. In 3 April 2019, the new headquarters in Uttara was inaugurated by Sheikh Hasina. BGMEA's new headquarters shifted to two high-rise buildings due to the old building being sealed. The total number of these two buildings is 0.464 million square feet. BGMEA will use 0.3 million square feet in this work. In addition to the exhibition center, there is a 750-capacity auditorium, two seminars, and swimming pools for the members of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association. A new five-storey building was built and the organisation started the process to vacate the old building. It was planned to upgrade the headquarters into 13-storey. However, according to the new members of BGMEA, as the Exim Bank didn’t start their operation to the new building yet, it is not possible to function there. In 2021, it was requested ABM Amin Ullah Nuri, who was the chairman of RAJUK that time, to develop repair roads to the complex and build a culvert that would improve the headquarters transport. In 2022, Textile Technology Business Center was inaugurated at the headquarters. In 2024, a digital plenary was established at the complex named after Subid Ali, the first BGMEA president.

References

1. "BGMEA Bhaban demolition: RAJUK, public works ministry singing the same hymn". bdnews24.com. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
2. ^ "PM opens new BGMEA Complex at Uttara". The New Age. 4 April 2019.
3. "DSCC to remove illegal structures from Beribadh, recover canal". The Daily Star. 23 January 2017. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
4. "Top court orders BGMEA to demolish its 16-storey office building immediately". bdnews24.com. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
5. "SC upholds BGMEA Bhaban demolition order". Prothom Alo. Archived from the original on 3 February 2017. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
6. "BGMEA building sealed off". The Daily Star. 16 April 2019.
7. "BGMEA Bhaban demolition work starts". Prothom Alo. 22 January 2020.
8. "উত্তরায় বিজিএমইএ'র নতুন ভবন". Banglanews24.com (in Bengali). 12 March 2017.
9. "BGMEA to operate from new building from Monday". New Age (Bangladesh). 14 Apr 2019. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
10. "BGMEA complex not yet ready to serve members". The Financial Express. 14 April 2019.
11. "BGMEA President urges Rajuk to repair surrounding roads of BGMEA Complex in Uttara". The Business Standard. 29 May 2021.
12. "Textile Technology Business Center inaugurated at BGMEA complex". The Business Standard. 20 November 2022.
13. "'Subid Ali Digital Plenary' inaugurated at BGMEA Complex". Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha. 3 April 2024.

• Uttara
• Buildings and structures in Dhaka
• Foreign trade of Bangladesh
• 2019 establishments in Bangladesh