APM-Maersk likely to invest $800m in Laldiar Char container terminal

CHATTOGRAM May 8: AP Moller-Maersk, a Danish shipping and logistics company, will invest $800 million in constructing the Laldia container terminal at Chattogram Port.

APM started work at Laldia in 2024 and was supposed to invest $300 million to $400 million initially. However, the investment will increase to $800 million, said Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (Bida) Chairman Chowdhury Ashik Mahmud Bin Harun, while visiting the Laldia Char in Patenga area in the city on Thursday morning.

APM Terminals, a subsidiary of AP Moller-Maersk, will develop the first BOT (build-operate-transfer) port project in Bangladesh under a public-private partnership (PPP) and on a government-to-government basis.

The Laldiarchar container terminal will be constructed under Public Private Partnership (PPP) basis with AP Moller Maersk, over 32 acres of land.

The main objective of the Laldia Container Terminal project at Chattogram Port is to enhance the container handling capacity of the Port through the construction of a container terminal in the Laldia area. The project will also strengthen the port logistics capacity of Bangladesh.

The project will create numerous jobs during construction and operations. It will also boost economic growth, streamline supply chains and will attract foreign investment and enhance logistical capacity.

The Laldia Terminals will have the handling capacity of 3 lakh Twenty-Foot Equivalent Unit or TEUs of container per year.

"Our foreign direct investment (FDI) is not more than $700 million yearly. If $800 million comes for one project, it is crucial for our economy. It will increase our FDI significantly and will create huge employment opportunities. So we are tracking this project seriously from Bida," said BIDA chairman Ashik, also the executive chairman of Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (Beza).

He said, "To build Bangladesh as a manufacturing hub, we need to develop our ports; we need to engage the world's top port operators for this."