Facility to help Ctg Port emerge as regional hub: Amir Khosru 

CHATTOGRAM, Aug 30: The Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury has laid the foundation stone of the $550m Laldia Container Terminal which will be built by the Danish company, APM Terminals.

In this connection a function was held at the site of the Terminal at Ladiar char in Patenga at 11 am on Sunday.

Speaking on the occasion, the Finance Minister said that the Laldia Container Terminal will open new era in development of the modern port facilities in the country.

He also hoped that the terminal would create opportunities for logistics, trade facilitation and economic development, for Chattogram to emerge as a regional logistics hub.

Amir Khosru hoped, “the project will be a milestone in the government’s ambition to build a $1 trillion economy by 2034.” He said: “I hope that the work on this terminal will be completed within the stipulated time. We are ready to provide all kinds of cooperation from the government. We want to open the door to the world.

Shipping and Road Transport Minister Shaikh Rabiul Alam, described the project as the beginning of a new chapter for Bangladesh’s port and logistics sector.

He said the project would take Bangladesh into a new era of investment, technology and modern terminal operations.  "The expansion of our import and export trade will become more international-standard. From that perspective, today's event is certainly good news for the nation and the country," he said.  

The terminal is being developed under a public-private partnership with Danish company APM Terminals, a member of the AP Moller-Maersk Group.

Addrtessing the function, Romesh David, CEO of APM Terminals Laldia said that the terminal is expected to become one of the world's most advanced container terminals within three years.  He said that the facility would have around 600 metres of quay, seven ship-to-shore gantry cranes, 30 remotely operated gantry cranes and around 45 electric trucks.

"Once fully operational, the terminal is expected to handle close to 1 million containers annually, increasing Bangladesh's current container-handling capacity by around 30 per cent," David said.  "This is to date the largest investment in this country in the port sector," he said, putting the investment at almost $600 million.  He said the project is Bangladesh's first port-sector public-private partnership involving foreign direct investment and the country's first greenfield port project of its kind.

The terminal is planned as a zero-emission facility, with electric equipment and other measures aimed at making its operations carbon neutral.