The Bangladesh government is considering engaging global port operators to manage the country’s critical maritime infrastructure, enhancing efficiency and unlocking investment.

However, the move is already drawing scrutiny from domestic stakeholders concerned about foreign involvement in managing existing state-built terminals.

At a press briefing in Chattogram on Thursday, Chowdhury Ashik Mahmud Bin Harun, Executive Chairman of the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA), outlined a proposal to partner with leading international port operators to upgrade management standards and attract as much as $3 billion in foreign direct investment across three major port development projects.

These include the Laldia Container Terminal and two facilities under the Bay Terminal expansion plan in Chattogram.

“The most important matter is to make optimal use of our limited capacity to remain globally competitive,” said Chowdhury during his visit to key port sites, including the New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT).

He emphasized that Bangladesh’s limited coastline and constrained terminal capacity necessitate efficient operations run to global standards, especially as the country positions itself as a future manufacturing hub.

He cited Vietnam as a reference point, noting that even a sixfold increase in Bangladesh’s port capacity would fall significantly short of Vietnam’s 44 ports, handling a combined 47 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) annually. In contrast, after the current round of expansions, Bangladesh’s projected capacity is expected to reach only 7.8 million TEUs.

While advocating for international expertise and capital, the BIDA chief also stressed preserving jobs and upholding labor rights. “We need to ensure that our jobs are protected and that labor rights are fully upheld,” he said, highlighting a balancing act between efficiency and equity that the government must maintain in pursuing foreign partnerships.

He argued that Bangladesh’s port infrastructure must expand and be utilized to its fullest potential if it is to sustain its economic momentum and realize its ambition of becoming a regional manufacturing center.

According to Chowdhury, the proposals to enlist foreign operators are part of a broader strategic vision involving new economic zones, free trade areas, and port-centric industrial development, most of which are planned in and around Chattogram.

Despite these projections and policy direction, local business leaders, industrialists, and political representatives voiced strong reservations. Earlier in the day, during a meeting held at the Radisson Blu Bay View in Chattogram, participants expressed unease over plans to bring in foreign operators to manage existing terminals such as the NCT, which has been developed with public funds.

Sufi Mizanur Rahman, Chairman of the PHP Group, welcomed foreign investment in principle but raised concerns about profit repatriation. “Foreign investors take away all their profits,” he said, contrasting this with local investors who, he argued, reinvest in the domestic economy. He urged the government to prioritize and support local investment over foreign management, particularly in sectors as strategic as port infrastructure.

Echoing similar sentiments, former Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Ershad Ullah called attention to systemic issues hampering local industries, including inconsistent utility supply. “Local industrialists struggle with gas, electricity, and water,” he noted, implying that improving these fundamentals could enhance port usage and industrial productivity more than outsourcing management.

Shahjahan Chowdhury, Chattogram city unit Ameer of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, opposed the idea of involving foreign entities in managing the NCT. “Let them develop greenfield ports or build new terminals,” he said, questioning the rationale behind allowing external operators into already operational facilities funded by public investment.