Consultancy contracts on Matarbari Port Development Project signed

Two contracts were signed on Wednesday – between the Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) and Nippon Koei, JV, as well as between the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) and Oriental Consultants Global Company Limited JV – for the Matarbari Port Development Project.

Matarbari Port – the country's first ever deep sea port – will be functional by 2025, officials concerned and policymakers said at the contract signing ceremony held at Hotel Intercontinental in the city.

CPA Project Director Zafar Alam and representative of Nippon Koei JV Naoki Kudo signed the agreement on behalf of their respective sides for engineering services. Meanwhile Project Director of the Matarbari Port Development Project (RHD part) Md Sadequl Islam and Representative of OC-Global JV Shunji Yoshihara signed the agreement for consultancy services of Matarbari Port Development Project (RHD component), read a press release.

Senior officials from the government, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Japanese Embassy in Dhaka were present on the occasion.

CPA Project Director and also Director (admin) of CPA Zafar Alam told The Business Standard that the project work has begun officially with the signing of the agreements.

Matarbari Port Development Project is an important Fast-Track Project of the government. This project is an outcome of the concept of The Bay of Bengal Industrial Growth Belt (BIG-B) jointly announced by the prime ministers of Bangladesh and Japan in September 2014.

The objective of the project is to develop a reliable and low-cost logistics network for seaborne cargo or freight handling and transporting facilities; to maintain the competitiveness of Bangladesh's products on the global market.

In order to achieve this objective, a new commercial port and a port connecting road with national highway (N1) at Matarbari, Moheshkhali and Chakoria area in Chattogram division will be constructed, thereby contributing to creating facilities with neighboring countries.

The government received a loan amount not exceeding 2.655 billion Japanese Yen from Jica for the implementation of the Matarbari Port Development Project.

This loan will be utilised for the consultancy services for: detailed design, tender assistance, construction supervision, and a one-year warranty for the project.

The Nippon Koei JV, Japan has been selected as a top ranked consulting firm to render engineering related services with a negotiated contract price of over Tk234 crore including tax and VAT.

The Oriental Consultants Global Company Limited JV, Japan with DDC Limited and BCL Limited have been selected as top ranked consulting firms to render the services related to the RHD component with a negotiated contract price of Tk466.68 crore including tax and VAT.

Joining the deal signing ceremony virtually, Planning Minister MA Mannan said the long and trusted relationship between Japan and Bangladesh has gained momentum during the period of this government led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe.

During this period, Bangladesh has focused on qualitative infrastructure with Japanese technical and financial cooperation, he added.

He said this infrastructure will lead Bangladesh to being a developed country by 2041.

State Minister for shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury virtually joined the ceremony as a special guest and praised the findings of the study that placed the Matarbari Deep Sea Port on the same channel developed by the ultra-supercritical coal-based power plant project with a little modification.

He mentioned this could be a lesson on how to maximise the benefit of investment and value for money strategy.

Shipping Secretary Mohammed Mezbah Uddin Chowdhury chaired the programme and praised the consultants and implementing agencies who initiated this work during the Covid-19 pandemic.