The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) approved a total of nine projects involving Tk 241.13 billion including Matarbari Port Development Project with Tk 177.77 billion in a bid to enhance the cargo handling capacity of the country.

The approval came from a meeting of the ECNEC on Tuesday (Mar 10) held at the NEC Conference Room in the city’s Sher-e-Bangla Nagar area with ECNEC Chairperson and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair, reports BSS.

Briefing the media after the meeting, Planning Minister MA Mannan said that a total of nine projects were approved involving an overall estimated cost of Tk 241.13 billion. “Of the total project cost, Tk 61.51 billion will come from the Government of Bangladesh, Tk 22.13 billion from the concerned organization’s own fund while the rest of Tk 157.49 billion as project assistance,”

Of the approved nine projects, seven are new while two others are revised projects.

The Chattogram Port Authority and the Roads and Highways Division under the Ministry of Shipping will implement the Matarbari Port Development project by December 2026.

The Planning Minister said the main objective of the project is to enhance the cargo handling capacity of Bangladesh through constructing this Matarbari Port including link road and thus fulfill the demand of international trade as well as facilitating speedy port services with the neighboring countries.

Mannan said the Matarbari sea port would be the country’s 4th port after Chattogram, Mongla and Payra and it would be built as a huge port due to the growing pressure of economic activities.

“This is another ‘dream’ project for the country and it will further strengthen our journey towards the ocean as well as boost our trade and commerce,” he said.

The Planning Minister said of the total project cost of Tk 177.77 billion for the Matarbari project, Tk 26.71 billion will come from the Government of Bangladesh portion, Tk 22.13 billion from the CPA while the rest of Tk 128.93 billion from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

Another official at the Planning Commission said that this Matarbari Port would fulfill the government’s aspirations for a deep sea port side by side creating opportunities for anchoring container-laden vessels, open goods-laden vessels and oil tankers at the port jetty.

Besides, this port will minimize the pressure on the Chattogram Port alongside meeting the growing demand of the country’s import and export activities. Goods transportation to and from the potential industrial estates at Matarbari and Moheshkhali will also be facilitated once this port is established.

The Matarbari Port will have two separate Terminals having 300 meter and 460 meter length where ships having 8,000 TEUs containers could anchor due to its 16-meter draft at the port channel.

The main project operations include construction of a multipurpose terminal and a container terminal, procurement of necessary cargo handling equipments and construction of 26.7 kilometer link road.