Once the Matarbari Port becomes operational it will add two to three percent to the growth of the Bangladesh economy. Shipping Secretary Mohammed Mezbah Uddin Chowdhury said the main objective of the project is to enhance the cargo handling capacity of Bangladesh through constructing the Matarbari Port including link road and thus fulfill the demand of international trade as well as facilitating speedy port services with the neighboring countries.
“The existing yearly container handling capacity of the Chattogram Port is 3.1 million Twenty-foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) container. The growing demand will exceed the existing handling capacity within next year. We have to increase the handling capacity by more 4 billion TEUs within 2033. Mongla and Payra port will not able to meet the growing demand. So, Matarbari and Bay Terminal are likely to be the solution. The Matarbari Port is likely to add 2 to 3 percent GDP in the country’s economy,” he added.
The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) on March 10, 2020 had approved the ‘Matarbari Port Development Project’ with Tk 17,777.16 crore in a bid to enhance the cargo handling capacity of Bangladesh.
Of the total project cost of Tk 17,777.16 crore for the Matarbari project, Tk 2,671.15 crore will come from the government of Bangladesh, Tk 2,213.24 crore from the Chattogram Port Authority (CPA) while the rest Tk 12,892.76 crore from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
The CPA under the Ministry of Shipping and the Roads and Highways Division are implementing the ‘Matarbari Port Development project’ by December 2026.
