The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) on Sunday approved a Tk4,068.23 crore project for expansion and modernization of Mongla Port facilities.
The approval came from the seventh meeting of the Ecnec in this fiscal year (FY25) and the sixth of the interim government held in the NEC Conference Room in the city’s Sher-e-Bangla Nagar area.
The Ecnec chairperson, Chief Adviser Dr Dr Muhammad Yunus, presided over the meeting.
Briefing reporters after the meeting, Planning Adviser Dr Wahiduddin Mahmud said that the day’s meeting approved a total of 13 projects involving an overall estimated cost of Tk12,532.28 crore.
“Of the total project cost, Tk4,097.23 crore will come from the government of Bangladesh portion, Tk7,328.95 crore as loan while the rest of Tk1,106.10 crore from the concerned organization’s own fund,” he added.
Of the approved 13 projects, nine are new while four are revised projects.
The Mongla Port Authority under the Ministry of Shipping will implement the expansion and modernization of the Mongla Port facilities project by December 2028.
Of the total project cost of Tk4,068.23 crore, Tk475.33 crore will come from the government of Bangladesh portion while the rest of Tk3,592.90 crore will be a loan from China.
The main objective of the project is to expand the modern facilities at Mongla Port by enhancing its container handling capacity.
Highlighting that the Mongla Port is very important considering its geopolitical aspect, the planning adviser said that the government wants to turn the port into a regional hub for which the container handling facility would be enhanced.
He said this project has been undertaken after a thorough review while China would finance most of the project funding.
Answering a question, he said that with the expansion of container handling capacity through the implementation of this project, international trade could be expanded further with Bhutan, Nepal and China.
Replying to another question, Wahiduddin said they would review the development budget next week to finalize the Revised Annual Development Program (RADP).
He said that since Bangladesh is graduating from the LDCs, soft-term loans would not be available from the multilateral development partners in the future and there would be also a burden on the state coffer to repay the principal amount and interest of the foreign loans.
Side by side, he indicated that the government’s loan burden for implementing the mega projects would also increase in the coming days.
In order to overcome the situation, the planning adviser suggested raising the overall revenue collection, otherwise, it would not be possible to efficiently ensure the overall economic management of the country.
In this regard, he said that the government is focusing more on human resources development.
The planning adviser also said that taking foreign loans is not bad, but the most important thing is whether it is invested in the right areas like investing in infrastructures which would motivate the private sector to woe more investment and establish export-oriented industries.
The planning adviser also informed that the government is putting due emphasis on strengthening further the capacity of Bapex and the Petrobangla.
The other projects approved in the meeting are: Uttar Kattali Catchment Sanitation in Chittagong Metropolis with Tk2,797.22 crore, Improved seed production and development of rice, wheat and corn, 3rd phase with Tk474.68 crore, Modernization and development (2nd phase) of seed production, processing and distribution management of BADC with Tk292.86 crore, Food Safety Testing Capacity Development with Tk2,409.70 crore, Digging some four evaluation-cum-development wells of Titas and Kamta Fields with Tk1,255 crore, conducting 3-D Seismic Survey at Habiganj, Bakhrabad and Meghna Fields with Tk454.25 crore, Digging Sylhet-12 number well (oil well) with Tk255.25 crore, Ghorashal 4th unit re-powering, 3rd revised with an additional cost of Tk96.08 crore, Development of power distribution system of Chittagong Zone, 2nd phase, 2nd revised with an additional cost of Tk164.15 crore, Strengthened Service Delivery systems for Improved Migration Management and Sustainable Reintegration with Tk60.10 crore, Establishment and infrastructural development of government primary schools at Dhaka metropolis and Purbachal, 1st revised, with an additional cost of Tk213.62 crore, and Establishment of digital labs at educational institutions, 2nd phase, 2nd revised with a reduced cost of Tk8.86 crore.
Concerned advisers attended the meeting while Planning Commission members and secretaries concerned were present.