Xiaomi has announced that it will now manufacture its devices locally in Bangladesh, as the leading smartphone company has opened a manufacturing plant in Gazipur.

Xiaomi revealed its 'Made in Bangladesh' plan at a special event in Dhaka today in the presence of Salman F Rahman, adviser to the prime minister on private industry and investment, and Zunaid Ahmed Palak, state minister for ICT.

The Gazipur plant will be producing approximately 3 million mobile phones per year.

Around 1,000 will be employed in the plant initially. The factory is situated in a standalone four-storied building with a total area of around 55,000 square feet.

The first phone of the company to be assembled in Bangladesh belongs to Redmi sub-brand, which is expected to be available in the market from the first week of November this year.

Subsequently POCO and Xiaomi series will be made in the country.

For local manufacturing, Xiaomi has collaborated with DBG Technology BD Ltd, an electronics manufacturing service provider headquartered at Huizhou, Guangdong in China.

DBG has been operating manufacturing business in different countries around the world, including China, Vietnam and India, for several renowned brands of consumer electronics.

They are a public listed company in Hongkong Stock Exchange.

"Manufacturing smartphones locally is a significant step towards incorporating Xiaomi into the fabric of Bangladesh for the years to come," said Ziauddin Chowdhury, country manager of Xiaomi Bangladesh.

"Thanks to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visionary plan to transform Bangladesh into an attractive destination for manufacturing, we have a great opportunity to make our products in Bangladesh," he said.

"Local manufacturing shows Xiaomi's commitment to being in Bangladesh for the long haul, and we are able to contribute to generating more jobs in Bangladesh. We are truly excited to be playing a role in enhancing the quality of life of the people of Bangladesh."

Salman Fazlur Rahman said: "We have great faith in young leaders and young companies like Xiaomi. These new generation companies and entrepreneurs will be key to the success of Bangladesh."

"We are happy to partner with Xiaomi as they set up their first manufacturing unit in Bangladesh, as part of the Digital Bangladesh initiative. We believe this partnership will provide new opportunities to youth of the country and develop an electronics-manufacturing ecosystem of global standards. We welcome Xiaomi to sunrise Bangladesh."

In a video message, Mustafa Jabbar, post and trlecom minister, said: "Today is a day of immense pleasure to us. In fact, of great pride for Bangladesh. Today a renowned brand like Xiaomi is setting up a factory in Bangladesh."

"My heartfelt gratitude to Xiaomi for choosing Bangladesh for smartphone production. This is indeed a great support to our movement of being a smartphone producing country. There are now on the verge of realizing the vision of "Digital Bangladesh' announced by Hon'ble Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina."

"We understood its significance during the pandemic as it made us realize the importance of digital devices. We believe that Xiaomi will go a long way," the minister said.

This is a great step by Xiaomi, Palak said.

"My congratulations to Xiaomi on opening the local smartphone manufacturing plant. This will help us attain our 'Digital Bangladesh' vision and we will get one step closer of our 'Made in Bangladesh' dream," he said."

"I strongly believe people of Bangladesh will be now getting world-class and innovative devices of Xiaomi at a competitive price."

Xiaomi Corporation was founded in April 2010 and listed on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on July 9, 2018 (1810.HK).