Over the years, our port city has not received the attention it is due. It is quite unfortunate that for so long, the considerable strategic advantages of Chittagong have been ignored to a large extent, and this has been to our own detriment.
Our policies have been, and continue to be, largely Dhaka-centric, but much stands to be gained by further developing Chittagong, which includes, but is not limited to, investing in strengthening Chittagong port.
According to the world’s oldest journal on ports and shipping, Lloyd’s List, Chittagong port has become the 58th busiest container port in the world, moving up six notches. This speaks to the growing significance and potential of Bangladesh in global trade. In the past year, our main maritime port handled over 3 million TEUs (twenty equivalent units) or containers, which is a 6.3% annual growth in container handling.
We should, then, go on ahead with port expansion activities to deal with this increased volume, which can only get even larger in the future. It is good to see the Chittagong Port Authority chairman assures us port expansion activities are underway, which includes the construction of the Patenga Terminal, Bay Terminal, and Matarbari Port. Which improved infrastructure, our rank should move up further in the future.
Some of the most globally powerful cities are port cities: Singapore, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and New York city are just a few examples. This is no mere accident -- a port can transform the economy of a city and a whole nation, and there is no reason that should not be possible with Chittagong, if only we evolved beyond our Dhaka-centric policy thinking.