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China companies sign $510m deals for Payra seaport

Reiaul Karim Byron
Two Chinese companies yesterday signed preliminary agreements with Bangladesh to develop three components of Payra seaport with $510 million in funds.
The agreements with China Harbour Engineering Company and China State Construction Engineering Corporation were signed at the shipping ministry in Dhaka.
China Harbour Engineering will build the core port infrastructure at $150 million.
China State Construction Engineering will fortify riparian areas to reduce flood risk and soil erosion at a cost of $300 million. It will also set up housing, education and health facilities at $60 million.
Md Saidur Rahman, chairman of the Payra Port Authority; Zeng Nanhai, joint managing director of China Harbour; and Li Shujiang managing director of China State Construction, signed the deals.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan said the operation of Payra port began in August, earning Tk 17 crore in revenue so far.
If all infrastructures can be put in place, it will add 1 percentage point to the country's gross domestic product, he said.
Shipping Secretary Ashok Madhob Roy said the agreements would be implemented on a government-to-government basis.
He requested both parties to sign the loan agreements as soon as possible as the implementation of the deals will only begin after the financing contracts are signed.
The three components awarded to the Chinese companies are crucial as
the work for container terminal, bulk terminal, passenger terminal, and power plants will take off only after they are completed.
The Payra seaport, the third in Bangladesh, is being constructed at an estimated cost of $ 16 billion.
India will also invest $750 million in the seaport to construct a multipurpose container terminal.
The shipping secretaries of India and Bangladesh talked about the issue during a meeting in Dhaka on Wednesday. The meeting was supposed to finalise the details of the agreement on the construction of the container terminal.
But Roy yesterday said India has sought seven days to give its opinion on the issue.
A number of Indian companies have shown interest in investing in the seaport India Ports Global, a joint venture between Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust and Kandla Port Trust is one of them. Apart from all terminals and power stations, there will be an exclusive economic zone and an airport around the port - all of which are expected to bring a new lease of life to the economically lagging south.
The authority says it wants to develop the port in three phases and make it fully operational by2023.
The main port will be built on the west bank of the Rabnabad channel and will allow up to 250-metre vessels to come through once dredging of 35 kilometres of the channel is done. The Chittagong port that now handles more than 90 percent of the export-import trade of Bangladesh can handle 186-metre vessels.