DHAKA: Saudi port developer Red Sea Gateway Terminal on Wednesday signed a concession agreement with the Bangladeshi government to manage and operate a newly built terminal in the country’s largest port.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Saudi Investment Minister Khalid Al-Falih witnessed the signing ceremony between RSGT and the Chittagong Port Authority at the premier’s office in Dhaka, marking the beginning of a 22-year agreement struck under the public private partnership and G2G format.

The $240 million Patenga Container Terminal, which finished construction earlier this year, is a “lighthouse of hopes for the economic development of Bangladesh,” Hasina said at the ceremony.

“This automated modern terminal will further strengthen the capacity of our ports. In addition, it will facilitate foreign trade, create employment and facilitate the ways of new entrepreneurs … it will work as a gateway to world trade and open new opportunities for the expansion of our trade and establishing connectivity with the world,” she said.

RSGT will be the first foreign company operating Bangladeshi ports, as Dhaka banks on the company’s technological expertise and ports management experience.

“Red Sea Gateway Terminal International is a renowned global terminal operator nominated by the Saudi government,” Hasina said. “With the goodwill RSGTI is operating the Jeddah port along with other ports, they will apply the same expertise, technology and work processes in operating our Patenga Container Terminal. It will open a new door for our country. Our people will also be trained in this process.”

Chittagong Port is the busiest container port on the Bay of Bengal, which handled about 3.2 million 20-foot equivalent units in the 2021 fiscal year and served as the main gateway for Bangladesh’s ocean cargo import and export. This included products from its garment sector, which accounts for 80 percent of the country’s exports and 11 percent of its gross domestic product.

The Patenga Container Terminal, which will be handed over to RSGT next month, is expected to have an annual capacity of 500,000 TEU, or twenty foot equivalent container units.

The signing on Wednesday is the beginning of a “new chapter in our very friendly relationship,” Al-Falih said at the signing ceremony, adding that Bangladesh holds a “special place” in Saudi Arabia that makes the Kingdom keen on continuing its support of the South Asian country’s development.

“Today’s signing of the investment agreement for the Red Sea Gateway company project in Patenga, this award represents, in my opinion, an anchor, economic connection between our two countries, and one of the most important sectors establishing a strong economic relationship, which is logistics,” Al-Falih said.

 “For us, Patenga also symbolizes the importance of logistics as an enabler for other sectors,” he said. “This project, this decision, is a small nucleus that we hope will grow into a large vibrant cluster of Saudi presence here in Bangladesh.”