WASHINGTON: The competition to develop much-needed modern port facilities in Bangladesh has intensified following the recent visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to the South Asian country.
Despite the clear need for a new port, and plenty of commercial incentives to build one, projects have been slow to materialize, as China, Japan, and India fight for the right to provide financing, and with that a ticket to build their influence in the country and in the region. During the presidential visit, China committed $24 billion for the development of infrastructure projects, but no details were provided on investment in port infrastructure despite years of attempts on the part of Beijing to finance the construction of a new deep-sea port in the country.
After 10 years of average annual growth of 6 percent, Bangladesh desperately needs modern port infrastructure. More than 90 percent of its foreign trade and almost all of its containers are currently handled by Chittagong port. Essentially a river port, located 16 kilometers (10 miles) up the Karnaphuli River from the Bay of Bengal, Chittagong has a draft of only 9.2 meters (30 feet), requiring the costly practice of transferring cargo from large to small vessels before berthing and discharge.
More than half of the cargo berths at the port’s three main terminals, some of which date back to the 1940s, are in poor condition, and the port is regularly congested. In a circular to customers in July of this year, NYK Line said its vessels were forced to stay in port for up to six days, two times longer than normal, owing to what it described as unprecedented levels of congestion. As recently as the end of September port operations were again paralyzed, this time by a trucker strike that left 40,000 containers piled up in port yards stocked beyond their already limited capacity.
Bangladesh’s export sector is expected to eclipse $50 billion in value by 2021 as global demand for its ready-made woven and knitted garments, frozen foods, jute, and leather continues to rise. Imports, too, are on the rise, particularly petroleum products, edible oils, cotton, and machinery and equipment.
