Matarbari deep-sea port takes Japan-Bangladesh Big-B to a new level, as Jamaat raises questions over India

Bangladesh's Prime Minister Tarique Rahman visited Tokyo in the last week of last month. In the joint declaration issued during the visit, Japan's Big-B project came up afresh. On the visit, the flagship project of Japan and Bangladesh was taken to a new level. The joint declaration called it 'Big-B for Shared Prosperity'. But two issues around this Big-B are drawing particular discussion. One is the mention of the Indo-Pacific strategy and the recognition of its importance.

In particular, some have raised the question of whether India is being given any special advantage in the name of connectivity. The country's main opposition party, Jamaat-e-Islami, raised the issue at a public meeting in Dhaka. The government, however, says there is no such intention. But what is actually happening in Matarbari, Bangladesh, around the Big-B initiative? Matarbari is a union in the coastal district of Cox's Bazar.

In this union, Bangladesh and Japan first planned a coal-based power plant. That was in 2014, during the Awami League government. After the agreement was signed then, work began in 2017. Instead of building it right on the seashore, work on the power plant began in Kutubdia union, 14 kilometres inland from the sea. Because the plant is coal-based, a navigation channel was built to carry coal to and from the plant. Work began on a channel 250 metres wide and 14 kilometres long, cut from the seashore, to transport coal around the clock.

But in a pre-feasibility study in 2017, JICA came up with another proposal. The study report said that with a small change to the coal plant's channel, a commercial port could be built on the southern side of the channel. It was proposed that the very channel being prepared to transport coal for the coal-based power plant could also host a commercial port. Using the same channel for two projects would make the best use of the land and also save costs. Bangladesh later accepted this proposal. As a result, the power plant eventually led to a deep-sea port. The depth and width of the channel were also increased.

And now, alongside that deep-sea port, work has been added to develop it as a production and export hub. The full name of 'Big-B' is the 'Bay of Bengal Industrial Growth Initiative'. It is a Japanese economic investment plan centred on Cox's Bazar and Chattogram in Bangladesh's Bay of Bengal region. Japan is trying to build an industrial zone around Bangladesh's deep-sea port at Matarbari. That is why, apart from the deep-sea port, the country has been working for almost a decade on a plan to improve the overall transport system there for the movement of goods.

Under this, a coal-based power plant has already been built there. Another solar power plant is also being set up. Then there will be an LNG terminal, a deep-sea port and an industrial zone. The Japan-Bangladesh joint declaration on Big-B focuses mainly on four things. One, building connectivity in the region, whose main foundation will be the Matarbari deep-sea port. Two, increasing the capacity to cope with natural disasters and geopolitical uncertainty. Three, public-private partnership, under which more than six billion dollars of Japanese investment will come into Bangladesh's economy over the next five years. Four, moving forward to establish peace and stability, through which Bangladesh will receive defence equipment and technology. Asked about it, the Prime Minister's finance and planning adviser, Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir, told the BBC that they mainly want to build Bangladesh into an export hub.

He said, "Our first task in Matarbari is the deep-sea port, and around it, energy, logistics, and then building economic and industrial zones. We are also building a planned city here, so that it can become a global export hub." He added, "We will try to take it everywhere — whether to the countries of East Asia, South-East Asia, around the Indian Ocean or Africa." For becoming a global export hub, everything needed in terms of infrastructure — power plants, an LNG terminal, industrial factories, a seaport and the communication system — is being built at Matarbari. Japan will mainly provide the huge investment that requires.

So the question arises: with Japan's interest and the huge investment around Matarbari in particular, how much will Bangladesh ultimately benefit? Khondaker Golam Moazzem, a Bangladeshi economist and president of the research institution Knowledge Hub Institute, said Bangladesh has the opportunity to benefit economically from this project. He said, "It is being said that there will be an investment of about 60 to 65 billion dollars here, and 48 to 50 billion dollars of this investment will be private investment. These investments will mainly be brought by Japanese investors."

In his view, the economy will improve along the path of Japanese investment. He said if big investors like Japan bring their investment, then not only their products will come, but their technology will come along as well. He added that this will further encourage local investors to go into joint ventures, because the supply chains that will grow alongside these projects will then get the chance to grow here. It is being said that as a result, about 2.8 million people will get employment opportunities across the area, over several decades. The Matarbari project agreement in Bangladesh was signed in 2024, during the Awami League government. The agreement was with Japan. At that time, Japan brought the plan forward with the idea of a large market combining Bangladesh, India's eastern states, Myanmar, Nepal and Bhutan.

In May 2014, during the then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit to Japan, the country's then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe first put forward the 'Big-B' concept. After Shinzo Abe put forward the Big-B concept, in June 2014 the then president of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Akihiko Tanaka, gave a formal explanation of the concept at an event at the Senate building of Dhaka University. He said the core foundation of the concept is industry and trade centred on building the deep-sea port. Its second foundation would be energy, and the third would be the transport system.

In other words, through the deep-sea port, Matarbari would become a global hub of business and trade, and the electricity from there would speed up Bangladesh's economic activity. And the transport system would extend to neighbouring countries. Sheikh Hasina later announced a broad plan for Matarbari in Dhaka. It was also adopted as a special plan of the then Awami League government. In that continuation, during the then Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's visit to India in 2023, the proposal for this industrial zone around the Bay of Bengal came up. In other words, India was always relevant to the Big-B initiative and the Matarbari project around it.

But now, in 2026, when the BNP is in power in Bangladesh, Japan and Bangladesh have both agreed to take the Big-B initiative to a new height. That is, the continuity of the project has been further strengthened. Although in the joint declaration during Tarique Rahman's Japan visit, no country, including India, is named directly in connection with Big-B. But the declaration's mention of connectivity and of developing Matarbari as a regional and international trade hub makes it clear that this project is not only for Bangladesh. And here neighbouring countries, especially India, are relevant.

As a result, some suspect that India will be given benefits through connectivity in this project. And this suspicion is visible in the country's internal politics, where India is always a sensitive issue. On 31 October, at a rally in Dhaka, Bangladesh's main opposition party Jamaat-e-Islami was seen raising the question — without naming India — of whether India is being given connectivity in the Matarbari project through a strategy. Jamaat-e-Islami Amir Shafiqur Rahman warned, "The nation wants to know clearly whether there is any secrecy over the Matarbari deep-sea port. Bangladesh must not be leased to anyone in the name of connectivity."

But the question is, what exactly is the reason for Jamaat's concern over connectivity in Matarbari? When asked for details, the party made no fresh comment. However, the party's Secretary General, Mia Golam Parwar, said they will make a formal comment later after examining in detail the joint declaration and agreements made with Japan. But even without the details, the initial reactions from Jamaat and some other political parties make it clear that their concern is mainly about India's involvement in this project — especially whether India is getting corridor or transshipment benefits through it.

Asked about it, former diplomat Sakib Ali told the BBC that Big-B's economic model is excellent. But if a country like India is also to be given benefits here, then political consensus within Bangladesh is needed before that. He said, "We are being told whether we can create a unified or integrated market by connecting with India. This economic thinking is good thinking. But before this thinking, the political consensus that is needed has not happened. I think political unity must be created first." He added, "If there is political consensus, then we can move toward economic integration. And if we do not reach political understanding, then I think we will fall into a big problem and it will not be implemented then."