Chittagong Port Authority (CPA), under Ministry of Shipping, Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, has received bids for the contract to build maritime terminal.

Five international port operators and a local company submitted their request for qualifications (RFQ) for the project. As we reported, CPA launched the tender process in July 2017.

The firms interested in the project are:

• DP World (United Arab Emirates)
• Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited (APSEZ) (India)
• Bolloré (France)
• China Harbour and Engineering (CHEC), a subsidiary of China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) (China)
• Global Maritime And Port Services (GMAPS) (Singapore)
• Power Pac Holdings (Bangladesh)

According to sources, Request for proposals (RFP) will now be sought from five of the six operators.

CPA envisages the selected private partner to undertake designing, building, financing, operation & maintenance of the project, based on terms and conditions to be set out in the PPP Contract.

The Chittagong Port, operated by CPA, is the main sea port of Bangladesh and handles more than 92% of the total sea born trade of the country in bulk and containerized form. There has been a significant and sustained increase in cargo handling at the Chittagong Port, with current growth averaging at more than 10% annually.

A key constraint faced by Chittagong Port is the lack of any specialist terminals to handle bulk cargo. Currently the bulk cargo is being handled at the existing container terminals; however, this is not a viable long term solution. The lack dedicated equipment for bulk cargo, and the strong growth of container and bulk cargo volumes are having an adverse impact on ships waiting time and the overall performance of the port.

To meet this increase in bulk cargo volumes and improve performance of port operations, government has prioritized the establishment of a dedicated bulk cargo handling facility.

 MMM Group Limited was appointed as transaction advisor.