Bangladesh has handed the operating rights of a terminal handling nearly half of Chattogram Port’s container traffic to Dubai-based DP World for 15 years.
The government calls it a major step towards modernising the country’s busiest seaport. Its critics call it a surrender of strategic infrastructure.
The agreement, signed on Thursday, October 8, transfers the management and modernisation of the New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT) to the UAE company. Ownership of the land, berths and infrastructure will remain with the Chattogram Port Authority (CPA).
But the signing was accompanied by protests outside the Invest Bangladesh office in Agargaon, where police baton-charged demonstrators from left-wing political organisations.
Communist Party of Bangladesh President Sazzad Zahir Chandan was among those reportedly injured.
Chandan accused the government of compromising national sovereignty and alleged that DP World's international operations could create opportunities for American military involvement in Bangladesh's ports.
The allegations have not been substantiated. The government says security, customs, immigration and all sovereign functions will remain under Bangladeshi control.
The dispute is nevertheless about considerably more than who owns the land.
NCT handles approximately 44% of Chattogram Port's container traffic. With the port handling around 32 lakh twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in the 2024–25 financial year, the terminal is central to Bangladesh's import-export supply chain.
For garment exporters, importers of industrial raw materials and shipping companies, even modest changes in terminal efficiency can have substantial financial consequences.
The agreement also represents another step towards foreign management of Bangladesh's port infrastructure.
Saudi Arabia's Red Sea Gateway Terminal International already operates the Patenga Container Terminal and has been considered for the Chittagong Container Terminal.
Against that backdrop, the government has released a detailed explanation of the NCT agreement, outlining its financial provisions, investment commitments, regulatory safeguards and selection process.
The disclosures answer several important questions. They also raise others, particularly about the commercial assumptions behind the deal and the decision not to publish the complete contract.
Here is what the agreement means, what the government is promising and what remains unclear.
No. The agreement is an operating concession, not a sale of the terminal.
The government and CPA will retain ownership of NCT's land, core infrastructure and other assets.
DP World will be responsible for operating, maintaining and modernising the terminal during the concession period.
The initial term is 15 years. An extension would require compliance with specified conditions and agreement between the two parties.
The distinction matters. A concession allows a private company to operate public infrastructure without acquiring legal ownership.
But ownership and operational control are not the same thing.
For 15 years, DP World will exercise substantial influence over the daily functioning of a terminal that handles nearly half the port's containers.
The government says security, customs, immigration and sovereign functions will remain under Bangladeshi authority.
It has also promised government-approved safeguards covering data localisation, cybersecurity, personnel screening and access controls.
Those provisions address some sovereignty concerns. Their effectiveness will depend on how they are implemented, monitored and enforced.
Because the government's argument is about productivity, not the absence of an operator.
NCT was previously operated by Chittagong Dry Dock Limited, a state-owned company managed by the Bangladesh Navy.
It took over in July 2025 after private operator Saif Powertec's nearly 18-year tenure ended.
The government says NCT continues to lag behind competing regional ports in container dwell time, vessel turnaround time, equipment productivity and operational efficiency.
DP World operates more than 80 maritime and inland terminals across over 40 countries, according to the government's account.
Its international network and experience are being presented as the principal reasons for selecting the company.
But international experience alone does not establish that the arrangement will be commercially beneficial.
The important tests will be measurable reductions in cargo delays, higher crane productivity, improved vessel turnaround and lower logistics costs.
The government has not yet supplied a detailed public comparison of NCT's existing performance and the improvements expected under DP World.
Without those figures, it is difficult to assess the scale of the promised transformation.
The government has disclosed three principal financial components.
First, DP World will pay an upfront concession fee of approximately 600 crore taka.
Of that amount, 25%, or about 150 crore taka, is payable upon signing. The remaining 75%, approximately 450 crore taka, must be paid before operations begin.
Second, the company has committed to capital investment exceeding 1,000 crore taka during the first 10 years.
The money is intended for modernisation, equipment, technology and operational improvements.
Third, CPA will receive a revenue share or royalty described by the government as equivalent to approximately 40%–67% of average terminal revenue per TEU.
There will also be a fixed annual fee of around 10 crore taka.
Over the initial 15-year period, that fixed fee would amount to approximately 150 crore taka, assuming it remains unchanged.
The government has also disclosed a minimum annual handling guarantee of 12.3 lakh TEUs, falling to 10 lakh TEUs when new terminals begin operating.
These figures establish the broad financial structure. They do not establish the government's total expected earnings.
That would require projected container volumes, tariff assumptions, the precise royalty formula, applicable deductions and estimates of future operating revenue.
It is also important to distinguish between money paid to the government and money invested by the operator.
The 1,000 crore taka investment commitment is not a direct payment to the treasury. It represents expenditure intended to improve the terminal.
The commercial question is whether the resulting improvements and concession payments provide better value than alternative operating arrangements.
The government says no, because Bangladesh is not borrowing to finance the NCT arrangement.
It has contrasted the concession with Sri Lanka's Hambantota port, where a Chinese company acquired a controlling interest under a 99-year lease arrangement in 2017.
That comparison requires care.
Hambantota's financing and subsequent lease were more complicated than a simple failure to repay a single loan. Sri Lanka's broader debt pressures and the structure of the transaction were also important.
In Bangladesh's case, the government says DP World will finance the required investments itself.
That substantially changes the nature of the financial exposure.
But the absence of sovereign borrowing does not mean the concession is free of commercial risk.
Revenue guarantees, tariff arrangements, foreign-exchange provisions, compensation clauses and termination conditions can all affect the government's long-term obligations.
The government says the agreement includes traffic studies, risk-sharing provisions, currency-risk management and step-in rights.
Those are relevant safeguards.
Their value cannot be fully assessed without examining the precise contractual language.
The government rejects that criticism.
According to its published explanation, the process began with in-principle approval from the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on March 23, 2023.
A transaction structure report was approved on October 20, 2025. The request for proposals followed on January 8, 2026, with bids received on January 25.
Negotiations continued from January 27 to August 6.
CPA's board approved the agreement on September 16, and the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs cleared it on October 1.
The agreement was signed on October 8, more than three years after the initial cabinet approval.
The International Finance Corporation, part of the World Bank Group, served as transaction adviser.
The timeline undermines the suggestion that the project emerged overnight.
But duration is not proof of competition.
The project followed a government-to-government arrangement involving a company nominated by Dubai's government, rather than an ordinary open international tender.
The government says technical, financial and legal evaluations were undertaken.
What remains unclear is how DP World's commercial offer was benchmarked against alternative operators or continued domestic management.
A transparent comparison would strengthen the government's case.
The government says existing employees will not lose their jobs because of the concession.
They are to be integrated into the new operational structure, with training in modern equipment, digital systems and terminal management.
The agreement is also intended to create opportunities for local workers to acquire internationally recognised skills.
But the transition is politically sensitive.
Port workers have organised demonstrations, threatened shutdowns and demanded direct negotiations with the government.
On October 7, workers held a torch procession outside the port building. Their organisations warned that protests could extend to vessel movements at Kutubdia outer anchorage.
The government has promised employment continuity, but questions remain over how existing employment contracts, seniority, benefits and collective representation will be protected.
The distinction between retaining workers and preserving their existing employment conditions will matter.
A transition timetable and a publicly available labour-protection framework could help address those concerns.
The agreement contains key performance indicators and financial penalties.
These cover measures such as truck turnaround time and crane productivity.
According to a summary reported by The Daily Star, the government intends to reduce truck turnaround time progressively to 90 minutes and improve crane productivity from the second year.
The government's explanation says penalties will apply when specified targets are missed for three consecutive months.
CPA will retain oversight through weekly and monthly operating reports, revenue statements and audit rights.
The agreement also includes provisions allowing the authority to intervene under specified circumstances.
These are significant protections, but their strength depends on the details.
A penalty may be written into a contract yet prove ineffective if it is too small, difficult to enforce or subject to extensive exemptions.
Similarly, a performance target is meaningful only when measured against a reliable baseline.
The government should therefore publish NCT's existing performance figures alongside the agreed improvement schedule.
That would allow businesses, port users and the public to judge whether DP World is delivering what it promised.
Shipping Minister Sheikh Rabiul Alam said Thursday that DP World would begin work within six months and commence full-fledged operations within two years.
The transition itself will therefore be an important test of the concession.
This is one of the most consequential unresolved questions.
The government says it has disclosed the essential commercial terms: duration, upfront payment, investment commitments, revenue sharing, minimum volume guarantees, performance indicators and ownership arrangements.
It argues that releasing the complete contract could expose commercially sensitive information, weaken its negotiating position in future projects and violate confidentiality obligations.
Those concerns may justify protecting certain information.
But they do not necessarily justify withholding every provision of a public infrastructure concession.
The government's broader claim that governments do not publish complete PPP contracts is too sweeping to be accepted without qualification.
International practice varies, and the World Bank maintains guidance and resources supporting disclosure of PPP contract information.
The important distinction is between commercially sensitive details that genuinely require protection and provisions governing public revenue, financial liabilities, regulatory powers and the use of national infrastructure.
The latter are matters of substantial public interest.
The government could consider releasing a redacted agreement, together with an independent assessment of its financial implications.
That would allow greater scrutiny without necessarily exposing confidential commercial information.
The need for transparency is particularly important because NCT is not a proposed terminal awaiting construction.
It is an established, revenue-generating public asset.
According to The Daily Star, the Chattogram Bandar Rokkha Sangram Parishad claims NCT generated around 4,500 crore taka in revenue and 2,500 crore taka in net income in the 2025–26 financial year. Those figures are the organisation's claims and require independent verification.
If confirmed, they would make the comparison between existing returns and projected concession earnings especially important.
The government must demonstrate not simply that DP World will pay substantial fees, but that the arrangement offers better long-term value than retaining the previous operating model.
That calculation must account for investment, efficiency, revenue, risks and the economic benefits of faster cargo movement.
The NCT agreement is now signed. The debate over its merits is not settled.
Its success will ultimately be measured not by the nationality of its operator, nor by the size of the upfront payment, but by whether Bangladesh receives demonstrably better port services, stronger trade competitiveness and fair financial returns while retaining effective public oversight.
For a terminal handling nearly half the containers passing through the country's busiest port, those are questions worth answering in public.
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