The government plans to hand over the operations of three key container terminals to foreign operators for a period of 25-30 years, said Shipping Secretary Mohammad Yusuf on Sunday.
The terminals include Laldia and New Mooring Container Terminals of Chattogram Port and Pangaon Terminal in Keraniganj of Dhaka.
“We expect to sign an agreement by December,” the shipping secretary said while speaking as chief guest at a seminar on “Investment Opportunities in the Ocean-Going Shipping Industry,” held at the auditorium of Economic Reporters’ Forum (ERF) in Dhaka.
Yusuf emphasised that there is no alternative to bringing in foreign operators to enhance the capacity of the country’s ports. “Out of 13 gates at Chattogram Port, only six have scanning machines, and 3–4 of them remain out of order most of the time. This is not a sustainable way to operate a port,” he noted.
He further stated that once the agreement with foreign operators is finalised, the details will be published on the official website if necessary.
The seminar was presided over by ERF President Doulot Akter, with Azam J Chowdhury, President of Bangladesh Ocean Going Ship Owners’ Association, attending as the special guest.
The keynote paper was presented by Zaidi Sattar, Chairman of Policy Research Institute, while ERF General Secretary Abul Kashem conducted the session.
Highlighting the urgency of capacity expansion, Yusuf said, “We are doing something no other country does – releasing goods by opening containers inside the port. By 2030, we’ll face the challenge of handling 5.36 million TEUs of containers. So, appointing foreign operators is the only way forward.”
He also pointed out that countries like India and Sri Lanka already employ foreign operators to run their port terminals efficiently.
