Months have passed since the approval of a multimillion-dollar Chinese investment project to upgrade Bangladesh’s Mongla seaport. However, progress has stalled due to re-evaluation requirements, according to sources.

The ‘Expansion and Development of Mongla Port Facilities’ project, under which China has committed $400 million, intends to build two container jetties to enhance the handling capacity of Bangladesh’s second seaport. This project is expected to serve two critical purposes: increasing foreign direct investment (FDI) in dollars, crucial for Bangladesh’s current foreign exchange deficit, and positioning Mongla as a regional shipping hub.

Meanwhile, neighboring India has been conducting studies to construct two additional jetties at Mongla, where it already has transshipment facilities to facilitate cargo movement to and from its northeastern states. Recently, India expressed interest in operating the port, with a delegation from India Ports Global Limited (IPGL) visiting under the aegis of its Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways.

The Development Project Proposal (DPP) for the Chinese investment was presented at a meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) on September 12, 2023. Following the meeting, then junior planning minister Shamsul Alam confirmed the project’s approval, along with 18 other proposals. However, the ECNEC meeting minutes did not mention the Mongla Port project. Instead, over four months later, the Ministry of Shipping received a letter from the Physical Infrastructure Division of the Planning Commission on December 14, requesting the formation of a committee to re-evaluate and resubmit the project.

The project’s implementation, originally scheduled to begin on July 1, has yet to commence as it awaits re-submission to ECNEC for final approval. Sources indicated that while the Ministry of Shipping did not form a re-evaluation committee, one was eventually established under the leadership of the chairman of the Mongla Port Authority.

On Wednesday, Mongla Port Authority Chairman Rear Admiral Shaheen Rahman stated that the committee had re-evaluated the DPP and forwarded it to the ministry for further action. “Now it is waiting to be placed before the ECNEC meet,” he added.

Once approved, an agreement between the two governments will be signed to implement the project. China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) has been designated as the official contractor for the project. The Mongla Port Authority signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with CCECC on August 24, 2021, and the corporation submitted its financial bid and technical proposal on January 28, 2023.

CCECC’s project director for the Mongla port venture, Abu Sufian, expressed frustration over the delay in re-submitting the DPP to ECNEC. “It seems this project has been put on hold for unknown reasons,” he remarked, highlighting the potential increase in project costs due to delays.

Geopolitical factors may also be influencing the project’s progression. However, Shipping Secretary Mostafa Kamal dismissed the notion of an Indo-China rivalry affecting the project’s status. “The DPP was sent to the ECNEC for approval. But it returned with some observations for reconstruction. The file is under process,” he explained.

The “Expansion and Modernisation of Mongla Port Facilities” project is among the 27 development projects that China pledged to fund during President Xi Jinping’s visit to Dhaka in 2016. The project includes constructing two 368-meter container jetties, an 87,600-square-meter loaded container yard, a 34,170-square-meter empty container yard, and a 4,260-square-meter hazardous cargo-handling yard. Additionally, the project will procure four gantry cranes, seven rubber-tyred gantry cranes, and 33 other jetty-related equipment.

Upon completion, the new jetties are expected to enhance Mongla port’s container-handling capacity by 394,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) annually, significantly bolstering the port’s operational efficiency and regional significance.