Published: 12:37 AM, 23 April 2026
'No plan to hand over Chittagong Port to foreign operator'
Shipping Minister Shaikh Rabiul Alam on Wednesday told Parliament that the government has no plan to hand over the Chittagong Port to any foreign operator.
"There is no plan to hand over the Chittagong Port to any foreign operator," he said, while replying to a tabled question from treasury bench member Shahadat Hossain (Lakshmipur-1) in the House, UNB reports.
Earlier, Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad tabled the question-and-answer session for the ministers on the completion of the question-and-answer session for the Prime Minister at the beginning of the Wednesday's sitting of Parliament.
The shipping minister clarified that operators are appointed only for operating terminals of a port in case of arrangements specified or approved by the Public-Private Partnership Authority or the government. "In such cases, both local and foreign operators are considered eligible," he said.
In line with ongoing modernisation and the growing volume of the country's import-export trade, different terminals of the ports are being operated by both local and foreign operators to enhance capacity, he said.
Citing an example, he said the Patenga Container Terminal (PCT) of the port is being operated by a foreign operator.
Besides, an agreement has been signed with APM Terminals BV, a subsidiary of the Marks Group in Denmark, under the PPP method for the construction and operation of the Laldia Container Terminal at Laldia Char on the right bank of the Karnaphuli River, he added.
Noting that Chittagong Port is an autonomous institution, he said the institution is run by a board headed by a chairman, and also officers/employees of the agency as per the Chittagong Port Authority Act, 2022.
Moreover, the Chittagong Port Authority follows the government's instructions and also the policy decisions taken by the government from time to time, said the Minister.
