Prime Minister Lays Foundation Stone for Two Modern Jetties at Mongla Port, Project Cost $335.78 Million

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has laid the foundation stone of an expansion project, including construction of two modern jetties, to increase the capacity of Mongla Port and modernise it, at a cost of 335.78 million US dollars. He laid the foundation stone of the project at the port's jetty No. 9 at 11am on Thursday (5 November).

Shipping, Road Transport and Bridges and Railways Minister Sheikh Rabiul Alam, State Minister for Shipping Md Rajib Ahsan, State Minister for Environment and Climate Affairs Lion Dr Sheikh Faridul Islam, Chairman of the Invest Bangladesh authority Chowdhury Ashik Mahmud Bin Harun, Shipping Secretary Md Ataur Rahman Khan and representatives of the Chinese institutions concerned were present at the ceremony. Mongla Port Authority Chairman Rear Admiral Arif Ahmed Mustafa presided over the ceremony.

According to Mongla Port Authority sources, under the project titled 'Expansion and Modernisation of Mongla Port Facilities', jetty Nos. 10 and 11 will be constructed, along with a container loading-unloading yard, a dangerous goods yard and installation of 49 pieces of necessary equipment. The construction cost of the four-year project has been set at 335.78 million US dollars.

Once the project is implemented, the port's container handling capacity will rise to 30 per hour and a capacity of handling four lakh TEUs of containers a year will be achieved. Alongside this, container storage space will increase and the cost of loading and unloading goods will fall, the port authority hopes.

Under the project, various infrastructure will be built over an area of about 2 lakh 27 thousand square metres. These include a loaded container yard, an empty container yard, a dangerous container yard, internal roads, an administrative building and a Container Freight Station (CFS).

For financing the project, a loan agreement of about Tk 3,592 crore 90 lakh was signed between the Government of Bangladesh and the Export-Import Bank of China on 10 October last. Earlier, on 2 February 2025, the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) approved the project. On 25 March the same year, a commercial contract was signed between the Mongla Port Authority and the Chinese contractor CCECC.

The port authority hopes that once the project is implemented, business and trade in the south-western region will expand, employment will be created and Bangladesh's capacity in international trade will increase. Alongside this, Mongla Port will play an important role in expanding regional trade and connectivity with neighbouring countries.

After the ceremony, the Prime Minister planted a sapling in the project area. Prayers were then held for the development of the country and the nation. Afterwards, the Prime Minister left by road for the shrine of Khan Jahan Ali (RA) in Bagerhat.