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The government is planning to form a consortium to fund the construction of a deep-sea port at Sonadia in Cox's Bazar, sources said.
They said as a number of countries have shown interest to cooperate with Bangladesh in the construction of the port, the government now considers it appropriate to take assistance for component-specific areas relating to the proposed project, based on respective strengths and expertise of the would-be fund-providers.
Shipping Secretary Syed Monjurul Islam recently had given such a hint to a visiting Chinese delegation while discussing their assistance to Bangladesh's port sector development, the sources said.
Mr Islam made the request to China to join the consortium if it is formed for the construction of the billion-dollar deep-sea port project, which is considered strategically important to Bangladesh for handling properly the increasing load of cargoes.
A 10-member high-powered committee, led by the principal secretary to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), is now examining the proposals received from various governments and private sector companies in the overseas which have shown their interest in funding and constructing the proposed deep-sea port.
Last Thursday, the Netherlands made a power-point presentation of its proposal before the committee about how it wants to construct the port and its sources of funds.
The committee, the sources said, would also like to get the views of other countries, which have submitted the proposals formally.
The foreign governments and investors in the overseas private sector like those in China, India, the Netherlands, the United Arab Emirates, Denmark, and South Korea have expressed interest in constructing the deep-sea port, according to sources.
The government had earlier decided to construct the port on government-to-government (G-to-G) basis and to engage more than one country for funding its construction cost. However, the committee concerned decided later on that alongside the proposals from the governments, also those from the overseas private sector would be considered for implementation of the proposed project.
Officials said Bangladesh's ports have become quite important in the context of the needs for regional connectivity in South Asia. Many countries are now interested to invest in this sector in expectation of an attractive rate of return on their possible invested amount of funds.
The country's two seaports --- Chittagong and Mongla -- are likely to see a notable rise in container handling, once neighbouring India is granted transit and transhipment for carrying cargoes to its 'seven- sister' states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura.
Alongside India, other countries like Nepal and Bhutan are also interested in getting the similar transit facilities for their external trade.
According to the shipping secretary, presently container-laden vessels, accommodating only 1,100 TEUs (twenty feet equivalent units), can enter the Chittagong port area, and those carrying 450 TEUs can enter the Mongla port area.
On the other side, ships with 7,000 TEUs and 8,000 TEUs can enter the Indian and Sri Lankan port areas. Once the deep-sea port in Sonadia is constructed, ships with 4,000 TEUs will be able to enter that port.
"The construction of a deep-sea port has become necessary to help sustain the trends about the country's, import and export-related activities in the recent years, on a sustained basis, through letting big-size ships anchor near the ports," the secretary was reported to have said at a meeting at the PMO.
In 2006, the Japanese firm, PCI, first conducted a feasibility study for construction of the proposed deep-sea port. The seaport at the first stage will have five international-standard jetties with an annual capacity for handling 704.01 million tonnes of containers. Its construction cost was then estimated at Tk 600 billion.
Bangladesh plans to make Sonadia a major regional shipping hub, catering to the needs of north-east India, Myanmar, Nepal, Bhutan and southern Chinese province of Yunnan, the sources said.
Govt plans forming consortium to build Sonadia deep-sea port :: Financial Express :: Financial Newspaper of Bangladesh
They said as a number of countries have shown interest to cooperate with Bangladesh in the construction of the port, the government now considers it appropriate to take assistance for component-specific areas relating to the proposed project, based on respective strengths and expertise of the would-be fund-providers.
Shipping Secretary Syed Monjurul Islam recently had given such a hint to a visiting Chinese delegation while discussing their assistance to Bangladesh's port sector development, the sources said.
Mr Islam made the request to China to join the consortium if it is formed for the construction of the billion-dollar deep-sea port project, which is considered strategically important to Bangladesh for handling properly the increasing load of cargoes.
A 10-member high-powered committee, led by the principal secretary to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), is now examining the proposals received from various governments and private sector companies in the overseas which have shown their interest in funding and constructing the proposed deep-sea port.
Last Thursday, the Netherlands made a power-point presentation of its proposal before the committee about how it wants to construct the port and its sources of funds.
The committee, the sources said, would also like to get the views of other countries, which have submitted the proposals formally.
The foreign governments and investors in the overseas private sector like those in China, India, the Netherlands, the United Arab Emirates, Denmark, and South Korea have expressed interest in constructing the deep-sea port, according to sources.
The government had earlier decided to construct the port on government-to-government (G-to-G) basis and to engage more than one country for funding its construction cost. However, the committee concerned decided later on that alongside the proposals from the governments, also those from the overseas private sector would be considered for implementation of the proposed project.
Officials said Bangladesh's ports have become quite important in the context of the needs for regional connectivity in South Asia. Many countries are now interested to invest in this sector in expectation of an attractive rate of return on their possible invested amount of funds.
The country's two seaports --- Chittagong and Mongla -- are likely to see a notable rise in container handling, once neighbouring India is granted transit and transhipment for carrying cargoes to its 'seven- sister' states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura.
Alongside India, other countries like Nepal and Bhutan are also interested in getting the similar transit facilities for their external trade.
According to the shipping secretary, presently container-laden vessels, accommodating only 1,100 TEUs (twenty feet equivalent units), can enter the Chittagong port area, and those carrying 450 TEUs can enter the Mongla port area.
On the other side, ships with 7,000 TEUs and 8,000 TEUs can enter the Indian and Sri Lankan port areas. Once the deep-sea port in Sonadia is constructed, ships with 4,000 TEUs will be able to enter that port.
"The construction of a deep-sea port has become necessary to help sustain the trends about the country's, import and export-related activities in the recent years, on a sustained basis, through letting big-size ships anchor near the ports," the secretary was reported to have said at a meeting at the PMO.
In 2006, the Japanese firm, PCI, first conducted a feasibility study for construction of the proposed deep-sea port. The seaport at the first stage will have five international-standard jetties with an annual capacity for handling 704.01 million tonnes of containers. Its construction cost was then estimated at Tk 600 billion.
Bangladesh plans to make Sonadia a major regional shipping hub, catering to the needs of north-east India, Myanmar, Nepal, Bhutan and southern Chinese province of Yunnan, the sources said.
Govt plans forming consortium to build Sonadia deep-sea port :: Financial Express :: Financial Newspaper of Bangladesh
