Economy of Chittagong

The sea-borne exports consist chiefly of ready made garments, knitwear, frozen food, jute and jute products, leather and leather products, tea, and chemical products. There is also a large trade by country boats, bringing chiefly cotton, rice, spices, sugar and tobacco. Sailing ships built in Chittagong include the Betsey, the Argo, and the Mersey. 

Ship breaking was introduced to the area in 1969. This industry is concentrated at Fauzdarhat, a 16 kilometers (10 mi) long beach 20 kilometers (12 mi) north-west of Chittagong. Chittagong is also home to a large number of industries from small to heavy. Around 40% of the heavy industrial activities of the country is located in Chittagong city and adjacent areas, which include dry dock, Dock Yards, Oil Refinery, Steel Mills, Power Plant, Cement clinker factory, automobile industries, pharmaceutical plants, chemical plants, cable manufacturing, textiles mills, jute mills, urea fertilizer factory along with other private sector medium size industrial developments and activities. A Korean company, Youngone Corporation, has established a special Korean Export Processing Zone (KEPZ) in the port city of Chittagong. The KEPZ is built on a land area of nearly 1,000 hectares and is expected to attract foreign direct investment worth $1 billion. There is as well a Karnaphuli Export Processing Zone, with the same acronym (KEPZ).

The city of Chittagong had been long neglected by the Bangladeshi government, until the turn of the century when exports grew by 21.13% to an all time high of $8.02 billion. Chittagong is the site of Bangladesh's busiest port which handles 80% of all Bangladeshi imports and exports. The strategic location of the port has allowed for interest by investors to help improve the city. Major business houses of Bangladesh such as Galacticos Incorporation, M.M. Ispahani, T.K. Group, A.K. Khan and Co. , Habib Group, PHP Group, KDS Group, S. Alam Group, Mostafa Group and DC Enterprise are all residents of Chittagong.

Most of the International trading are believed to be done from Khatunganj & Asadganj area. The Sawdagars (traditional businessman) of Chittagong still controls the entire Bangladesh Market in this import oriented country. Agrabad is often known as Chittagong's chief commercial region. Banks like HSBC, Standard Chartered, Citibank, Dutch Bangla Bank, BRAC Bank, Dhaka Bank Limited, Bangladesh Bank, Eastern Bank, Sonali Bank, Rupali Bank and all other banks operating in Bangladesh have offices in and around the city. Numerous investments have allowed for a construction boom similar to Dhaka. Over the years, scores of hotels, shopping centers, and other modern buildings have sprung up to change the face of the city. Ongoing developments include various multi-story shopping malls and a Chittagong World Trade Centre.

The Chittagong Development Authority (CDA) is primarily responsible for framing and implementing the Master Plan for city development. The CDA makes and implements plans for area development (i.e. commercial areas, residential areas and recreational areas) and city road development in accordance with the approved Master Plan for the city. In 2000, manufacturing industry of Chittagong contributed 15% of the total GDP. According to CityMayors Statistics Chittagong registered a GDP of $16 billion in 2005 with an annual growth rate of 6.3%. It is estimated that in 2020 the GDP of Chittagong will be $39 billion.