APM Terminals and the Chittagong Port Authority of Bangladesh have entered into a concession agreement for the development of the Laldia Container Terminal in Chattogram.
The project represents an investment exceeding US$550 million, making it one of the largest public private partnership investments in the country’s history, APM Terminals said in a press release.
The concession agreement will allow APM Terminals to operate the terminal for a period of 30 years, which can be extended based on key performance indicators.
The Laldia Container Terminal will be fully designed, financed, built and operated by the investors, which APM Terminals said is a first-of-its-kind model for port infrastructure in the country.
APM Terminals said that, once operational in 2030, the terminal will expand Bangladesh’s annual port handling capacity by over 800,000 TEUs.
The company added that the new deep-water facility will allow the Port of Chattogram to handle vessels potentially of up to 6,000 TEUs capacity, compared to the current limit of 2,800 TEUs capacity.
"This landmark collaboration with APM Terminals will unlock new capacity for our exporters, reduce logistics bottlenecks and enhance our competitiveness in global markets," said Professor Muhammad Yunus, Chief Adviser of the Government of Bangladesh.
Maersk, APM Terminals' parent company, handles almost 30 per cent of all containers in and out of Bangladesh, according to Danish Foreign Affairs Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen.