Bangladesh authorities today signed an agreement with two Japanese firms over the Matarbari Port marking the launch of the construction of the country’s only deep seaport in Bay of Bengal, officials said.
They said Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) signed the deal with two Japanese firms to build the port with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) credits under the state-run entity’s Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) programme.
CPA signed the agreement with Japan’s Penta-Ocean Construction Co., Ltd. and TOA Corporation on the joint venture project at a ceremony in the capital which was joined by Shipping Ministry Adviser retired Brigadier General Dr M Sakhawat Hussain.
“It is not just an infrastructure project, but a strategic investment for the future of Bangladesh,” Hossain told the signing ceremony at Le Meridien Hotel in city.
Navy chief Admiral M Nazmul Hassan, Shipping Ministry’s senior secretary Mohammed Yousuf, CPA Chairman Rear Admiral SM Moniruzzaman witnessed the signing on Bangladesh side while deputy chief of mission of Japanese embassy in Dhaka Naoki Takahashi and chief representative of JICA’s Bangladesh office Tomohide Ichiguchi were present.
“With signing of the deal, the construction phase of Bangladesh’s first-ever deep seaport has officially commenced under the Matarbari Port Development Project,” a JICA statement said.
According to the statement apart from the providing the loan JICA is also extending technical cooperation to build the port and its surrounding infrastructure “with global best practices in terms of design, environmental considerations, and operational efficiency”.
The site of the port is situated near Cox’s Bazar’s Maheshkhali Upazila.
The adviser said once the port was operational, it could handle large ships with a capacity of about 100,000 deadweight tons (DWT), a term that refers to the total weight a ship can carry, including cargo, fuel, water, and provisions.
The proposed infrastructure is the core project under the Moheshkhali-Matarbari Integrated Infrastructure Development Initiative (MIDI), a comprehensive development vision jointly promoted by Bangladesh and Japan.
The initiative aimed to transform Moheshkhali-Matarbari region into a strategic economic corridor by integrating logistics, energy, and industrial development.
JICA said the operationalization of Matarbari port would catalyze the development of surrounding special economic zones, attract foreign direct investment, and generate local employment opportunities.
The state-run Japanese lending agency is also financing a 27-km access road linking Matarbari Port to national highway no. 1 or Dhaka-Chattogram Highway along with improvement of several bottlenecks along the existing highway from Chattogram to Chakaria of Cox’s Bazar.
JICA’s chief representative in Dhaka told the ceremony that the deal was not mere a contract signing, rather the beginning of a transformative journey.
“Matarbari Port will serve as a new maritime gateway for Bangladesh and a driver of economic growth in the long run. We are proud to support this visionary project, which symbolizes the strength and depth of the partnership between Japan and Bangladesh,”
Ichiguchi said.
Officials said the Matarbari Port is expected to accommodate large-scale container vessels, significantly reducing the current dependency on transshipment ports in the region.
The deep seaport’s construction process began in the late 2010s with the construction of a Captic Jetty for the Matarbari Power Plant, and later Bangladesh government undertook a project to build a full-fledged commercial port.
