DHAKA: Bangladesh could shelve a deepwater port project valued at US$8 billion (S$11 billion) that it has been negotiating with China – it might pursue a nearby facility instead because the Japanese are offering better financing terms.
Such a move would be a setback for Chinese President Xi Jinping’s “One Belt, One Road” initiative to build a network of ports and expressways to expand trade, investment and influence in the region. Dhaka has cleared Japan’s proposal to finance and build a seaport in Matarbari, some 25km from Sonadia, where Beijing had offered to construct the country’s first deepwater port, said Planning Minister Mustafa Kamal.
He told Reuters that the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) had offered 80 per cent financing with easy terms to build four coal-fired power plants of 600MW each and a port complex in Matarbari. The offer prompted a review of whether the Sonadia project was needed at all.
“Matarbari is designed in such a way that it will be comprehensive, with power plants, a liquefied natural gas terminal and a port,” Mr Kamal said. “Matarbari is sufficient – we might have to give up the other port project.”
He said the government was still reviewing the proposals. Two Japanese companies, Sumitomo Corp and Marubeni Corp, have put in bids for the power plant construction project. A Sumitomo spokesman said the project was in the early stages, and “nothing has been decided”. Marubeni declined to comment.
