Bangladesh-Denmark Joint Working Team Proposed to Speed Up Laldia Terminal Work
A proposal has been made to form a joint Bangladesh-Denmark working team to speed up work on the Laldia container terminal project in Chattogram. The proposal came at a meeting between Invest Bangladesh Authority Chairman Ashik Chowdhury and Denmark's Ambassador to Bangladesh, Christian Brix Moller.
The courtesy meeting was held on Sunday (November 1) at the Invest Bangladesh office in Dhaka. Investment cooperation between the two countries, sustainable infrastructure development, the energy sector, environment-friendly industrialisation and new areas of investment were discussed, Invest Bangladesh said in a press release, adding that effective communication and coordination between the two sides was emphasised to make the project work dynamic.
The Laldia terminal is being built under a contract with Denmark's APM Terminals, a subsidiary of the Danish shipping company Maersk Group.
The contract between the Chattogram Port Authority and APM Terminals was signed on November 17, 2025. Its term is 33 years — three years for construction and the remaining 30 years for operating the terminal — extendable by a further 15 years if conditions are met. The company will design, build and operate the terminal with its own financing, with investment of more than $550 million. It is the first new terminal project with foreign investment in the country's port sector. The port authority handed over the project site to APM Terminals on April 22 this year, and the terminal is targeted to open in 2030.
The meeting also discussed the activities and future prospects of the Karnaphuli Fertilizer Company (KAFCO). Located at Anwara in Chattogram, KAFCO is one of the country's largest joint-venture fertiliser plants; it went into production in 1994 under a public-private partnership of Bangladesh, Japan, Denmark and the Netherlands, with Denmark's Haldor Topsoe and the Danish fund IFU among the partners. Using Denmark's experience and investment potential in Bangladesh's energy sector was also discussed, and the potential of Swarna Dweep in Noakhali was raised.
At the meeting, Invest Bangladesh invited Danish investors to invest in the unused land and industrial assets of various state-owned enterprises — especially places where factories including sugar mills once stood or still stand. Because of losses, sugarcane crushing was stopped in December 2020 at six of the 15 sugar mills of the Bangladesh Sugar and Food Industries Corporation, and much of those factories' land and infrastructure now lies unused. Invest Bangladesh said it would provide necessary support if interested Danish investors come forward with specific proposals.
Food processing was highlighted at the meeting as a promising area of cooperation between the two countries. Julia Moin, director general of Invest Bangladesh's Investment Development-1 division, spoke of the industry's potential in the northern region, mentioning feasibility studies for seasonal agro-product-based industries, building cold-storage infrastructure, and opportunities to make beverages and food products from fruit.
