Bangladesh plans to order for four ocean going vessels with financial assistance from China. The authorities initially planned to procure six vessels, but the high exchange rate of US dollar and inflated manufacturing cost prompted them to revise the project.
China is providing a supplier credit of USD 235 million to facilitate the procurement plan. Bangladesh is expected to sign the commercial loan agreement by September this year.
The vessel construction contract would be awarded to China National Machinery Import and Export Corporation (CMC), an entity that finalised the design and dimension of the vessels in the negotiation phase, according to the Economic Relations Division (ERD) and the Bangladesh Shipping Corporation (BSC).
