The DP World, an Emirati marine terminal operator interested in investing in three major projects in Bangladesh, yesterday proposed that a study be conducted before investment in construction of a deep-sea port at Sonadia in Cox’s Bazar was made.
The idea was suggested during a presentation of its multi-billion dollar investment proposal for construction of deep-sea port at the Prime Minister’s Office.
Members of the government’s high-level committee led by the principal secretary to the prime minister were present at the presentation.
DP World proposed a long-term agreement for the New Mooring Container Terminal at the port of Chittagong be made based on the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) method. This is a joint venture with the government of Bangladesh for building a deep-sea port at Sonadia and also an inland container terminal on JV/EOT/BOT at Gazipur.
Jamal Abdul Nasser, CEO of the deep-sea port body told the Dhaka Tribune that two companies from the Netherlands and China also made presentations.
“Nothing has been finalised yet. It will be done during the next meeting to be held soon,” he said.
According to the shipping ministry, proposal of the DP World has its position on top of the list while that of Rotterdam Port, the Netherlands-based firm, and China Harbour, the Chinese firm, are also under consideration.
According to the proposal of DP World submitted to the ministry earlier in the day, at least $14 billion will be needed to construct the deep-sea port. Construction will be done in three phases by 2055.
The proposal says the UAE, through DP World, has experience in developing, operating and maintaining large seaports globally.
“The DP World has a portfolio of more than 65 marine terminals across six continents, including new developments underway in India, Africa, Europe, South America and the Middle East. In 2012, it handled more than 56 million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent container units),” the proposal reads.
The proposal also mentioned that Bangladesh had achieved effective economic growth over the past 10 years and had seen consistent growth in its export and import trade.
Majority of its export and import traffic is currently being handled from the port of Chittagong facing severe congestion because of infrastructure bottleneck which in turn is hampering Bangladesh’s trade growth, the proposal said.
Meanwhile, additional secretary of the shipping ministry Mohammad Alauddin will be attending a meeting of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) in Thailand on March 18.
Construction of deep-sea ports in the BIMSTEC area is expected to be discussed at the meeting.