China will lend 340 million dollars for the construction of two container terminals at Mongla port

The government is taking a loan of USD 340 million from China for the construction of two container terminals with modern equipment at Mongla port. In Chinese currency which amounts to about 240 million RMB. And in Bangladeshi currency, the amount is about 3.5 thousand crores.

The Export-Import Bank of China will provide this loan to the government. For this, the government signed an agreement with the bank last Saturday. The matter was informed in a press release of the Economic Relations Department (ERD) of the Ministry of Finance on Monday.

According to ERD, this agreement has been reached to implement the project titled 'Expansion and Modernization of Mongla Port Facilities' taken by the Mongla Port Authority under the Ministry of Shipping. Alia Meher, Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Relations, on behalf of the Government of Bangladesh, and Fengjun Thien, Assistant General Manager, on behalf of China Exim Bank, signed the agreement.

The necessary modernization will be done through the construction of two terminals, container yard, container delivery yard, cargo handling yard with modern equipment at Mongla Port through the project implemented with Chinese loan. Under the agreement, the Chinese government will provide a flexible loan at 2 percent interest for the project. The repayment period will be 20 years with a grace period of 5 years.

Mongla port was opened in 1950. Although the journey started in Chalan area of ​​Khulna district, the operation of the port was shifted to Mongla in Bagerhat after only three years due to geographical reasons. The operation of Mongla port started with the arrival of the British merchant ship named 'The City of Lyons'. At present, Mongla has limited container handling facilities. After the launch of Padma Bridge, the import and export of goods through Mongla Port increased slightly.

A major part of Bangladesh's foreign trade is through Chittagong port. According to NBR, 85 percent of the country's total foreign trade was transported through this port in the last financial year 2025-26. Almost 99 percent of container transport by sea is through Chittagong Port. The remaining 1 percent is done with Mongla.

According to Mongla Port Authority data, 987 ships arrived at Mongla Port in the last financial year 2025-26. And 994 have left the port. 47 of the ships arriving at the port were container ships. Through this, 29 thousand 714 containers of goods are imported and exported. 8 thousand 258 more containers were handled in the last financial year compared to the previous financial year 2024-25.

Last financial year, 12 thousand 75 cars imported through Mongla Port were cleared. In the previous financial year, 11 thousand 579 cars were redeemed. In the first three months of the current financial year, 3 thousand 643 cars imported through this port have been released.