Bangladesh Breaks Ground on Mongla Port Expansion: Chinese Firm to Build Two Container Jetties in $335.8 Million Project
Dhaka — Bangladesh's Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on November 5 laid the foundation stone, near Jetty No. 9, for the expansion and modernization of Mongla Port, the country's second-largest seaport. The project, implemented by the Mongla Port Authority, is budgeted at about 40.68 billion taka (about $335.8 million).
China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation, a subsidiary of China Railway Construction Corporation, is the engineering, procurement and construction contractor, with a contract duration of 42 months. The works comprise two new container jetties, Nos. 10 and 11, with a combined quay length of 368 meters, a container yard, a dedicated hazardous-cargo yard and 49 pieces of cargo-handling equipment. On completion, Mongla Port will gain capacity for roughly 400,000 additional TEUs a year.
The Bangladeshi government is providing about 4.75 billion taka of the cost, while China is financing about 35.93 billion taka, under a loan agreement with the Export-Import Bank of China signed in October.
On the same day, Invest Bangladesh and China Railway Construction Corporation signed a memorandum of understanding on economic and infrastructure cooperation in the Prime Minister's presence. Saleh Ahmed, a member of the investment authority, signed for the Bangladeshi side, and China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation chairman Li Chongyang signed for the Chinese side; the two sides will explore investment opportunities in energy, industrial and green infrastructure, transport and logistics, and human-resource development.
Mongla Port, on the Pashur River in Bagerhat district in southwestern Bangladesh, is the country's second-largest seaport after Chattogram and has long handled imports and exports for the southwest. The expansion is the port's largest modernization project in years.
(Source: The Business Standard)
Source: The Business Standard
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：孟加拉国蒙格拉港码头与货轮（资料图）。CC BY 2.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The quay and a cargo vessel at Mongla Port, Bangladesh (file photo). CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
