Bangladesh lines up Saudi’s Red Sea for Chittagong container port investment

• 450,000-TEU-capacity terminal to be completed by mid-2022

Bangladesh’s Ministry of Investment has expressed its intention to formally nominate Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Gateway Terminal (RSGT) as a public-private partnership (PPP) investor under the terms of an investment MOU between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, signed at the 2021 Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. 

The formal nomination under the MOU enables the Government of Bangladesh to directly award PPP projects to nominated companies.

RSGT says it looks forward to working closely with authorities in Bangladesh, and Chittagong Port Authority, to take forward the development of the Patenga Container Terminal. RSGT proposes to equip and operate this terminal on a long-term concession from Chittagong Port Authority as landlord, subject to the completion of a formal procurement and negotiation process.

RSGT CEO Jens Floe said: “RSGT’s proposed investment is a vote of confidence in Bangladesh’s future. We are honoured that the Bangladeshi authorities have welcomed RSGT to this procurement process, which is Bangladesh’s first foreign-involved privatisation transaction in the port sector.” 

Construction work is well-advanced at the terminal, which will feature a 600m long container quay and will have an annual capacity of 450,000TEU, and it is expected to be completed by mid-2022.

Since beginning operations more than a decade ago, RSGT has grown into the largest terminal operator in Saudi Arabia, and one of the fastest-growing logistics service providers in the Middle East region. Located at Jeddah Islamic Port, it is the only facility at the port able to accommodate Ultra-Large Container Ships (ULCS) of up to 19,000 TEU capacity. 

A new 30-year concession agreement has recently been signed between RSGT and the Government of Saudi Arabia which calls for an investment of $ 1.5 billion in infrastructure and equipment through to 2050. The company is also expanding the scope of its operations to include the adjacent Northern Container Terminal.