POBNEWS24, Desk report, Dhaka Jan 25, 2025 : Saudi Arabia-owned port management company Red Sea Gateway Terminal has expressed interest in managing the Matarbari deep seaport in Bangladesh. The company’s executive chairman Amer A Alireza expressed this interest during a meeting with Bangladesh’s chief advisor Professor Muhammad Yunus on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland on Friday (January 24).
A statement sent by the chief advisor’s press wing gave this information – Alireza said in the meeting that their company is capable of improving the operations of Matarbari port and making it one of the largest ports in the region.
In the meeting, the chief advisor called on the company to invest more in Bangladesh and cooperate in attracting foreign direct investment. He said that Bangladesh will build more ports on the shores of the Bay of Bengal to develop the Chittagong region as an export and shipping hub.
Alireza said that Red Sea Gateway is currently operating the Patenga Terminal and plans to invest about $200 million to increase its efficiency and capacity. As part of this, various equipment, including $25 million worth of container handling cranes, have already been imported from China. Another $25 million worth of equipment will be imported in the next few weeks.
He said that these equipment are hybrid, which can run on both electricity and fuel. This will help reduce carbon emissions.
Highlighting the importance of Matarbari Port, Alireza said that it is one of the most important deep-sea ports in the region and their company is interested in investing in it. He also informed about the plan to turn Matarbari into a major shipping hub.
Alireza said that by increasing the efficiency of the Chittagong port, it will be possible to attract a huge amount of foreign investment to Bangladesh. He said that many leading manufacturing companies will be interested in relocating their factories to Bangladesh due to the developed port.
The meeting was attended by Bangladesh’s SDG Coordinator Lamia Morshed and Bangladesh’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva, Tarek Ariful Islam.
