Deep seaport construction in limbo

We welcome by the Chinese ambassador's comments to the Daily Star on September 26 on the proposed deep sea port construction at a cost US$5 billion. One of the sticking points on the Bangladesh side revolves around the fact that important development partners including the United States, Japan and India too have expressed participation in the project. However, as pointed out by Ambassador Li Jun, the Chinese government is open to participation of other countries in developing this crucial port, especially in light of the fact that Chittagong port is forecasted to run out of capacity in 2015.
The benefits of having a deep sea port cannot be understated. According to the Techno-Economic feasibility study carried out by a Japanese firm on behalf of Bangladesh, the port once completed has the potential to boost GDP growth by 2 per cent thanks principally to massive employment generation and facilitating regional trade on a scale hitherto impossible. Though the study recommended first phase of the construction in 2011 which would enable partial operation status in 2016, government inertia in coming to a decision has left the project hanging.
It must be remembered that Bangladesh is not alone in its aspirations to open up a deep sea port. Sri Lanka's newly-opened port of Hambantota is seen as an important catalyst for major economic development in the country. To Bangladesh's east lies Myanmar which has concluded a multi-billion dollar deal with Thailand to build a deep-sea port and Special Economic Zone in southern Myanmar's coastal belt Dawei and the project is being financially backed by the Japanese and Thailand. Beyond India, Pakistan is getting ready with its Pakistan Deep Water Container Port scheduled to be completed in 2014.
Decision time therefore has arrived. It is fruitless to expect the major trading nations of Asia to wait forever for Bangladesh to make up its mind. We strongly urge the government to take advantage of the Chinese proposal to mete out a multilateral deal so that Bangladesh can avert a major bottleneck in trade coming in 2015 and potentially become the regional trade hub for South Asia in the 21st century.