Bangladesh stands at a historic crossroads after the ousted leader, Sheikh Hasina, was found guilty in absentia of crimes against humanity and sentenced to death by the country’s International Crimes Tribunal. The court found that Hasina, who denies the accusations, was responsible for the violent crackdown on student-led protests in July-August 2024, in which the UN estimated ‘as many as 1,400 people’ may have been killed. The Gen Z protests, also known as the ‘Monsoon Revolution,’ toppled Hasina’s government and caused her to flee to India.
The interim government has sought to diversify Bangladesh’s relations, pursuing talks and agreements across defence, tech and trade with China, Pakistan, Turkey, South Korea, Japan, Europe and the US.
In March, Yunus signed major cooperation agreements with Beijing. Current Chinese investment in Bangladesh now exceeds $10 billion, spread across more than 30 major projects ranging from power plants to railways and digital infrastructure.
APM Terminals to build port in Bangladesh
The Dutch container terminal operator APM Terminals, a part of Denmark’s shipping giant A.P. Moller – Maersk, has signed a $550 million concession agreement with the Bangladeshi Chittagong Port Authority (CPA), aiming to deepen the South Asian nation’s infrastructure development and sustainability efforts.
In total, Bangladesh’s foreign direct investment surged by 19.13 per cent in the year following the Monsoon Revolution.
The 30-year concession agreement, reportedly one of the largest public-private partnership (PPP) investments in Bangladesh’s history, concerns the development of the Laldia Container Terminal in Chattogram. Local partner QNS Container Services will also join the initiative.
The Laldia Container Terminal is to be fully designed, funded, constructed and operated by the investors, which is said to be a “first-of-its-kind” model for the country’s port infrastructure.
More importantly, according to officials from APM Terminals, the project is part of the Sustainable Green Framework Engagement between Denmark and Bangladesh, a bilateral collaboration that seeks to pave the way for green investment, sustainable economic relations and job creation.
“The Laldia Container Terminal demonstrates Bangladesh’s commitment to reform, transparency and investment-friendly growth. Laldia will be the country’s first green port and the single largest European foreign direct investment in Bangladesh,” Chief Adviser of the Government of Bangladesh, Muhammad Yunus, commented.
“Bangladesh is one of the fastest-growing economies of the world, and with the graduation from LDC just around the corner, it’s an ideal time for Bangladesh to experience the reduced cost of trade from cutting-edge technology and best practices of an ‘international standard’ terminal operator,” Nurul Qayyum Khan, Chairman of QNS Container Services, further remarked.
As highlighted, the agreement will strive to build what is described as “one of South Asia’s first energy-efficient, low-emission terminals”, aligned with net-zero targets and envisaged to support Bangladesh’s long-term climate goals.
Key features of the project are set to entail electrified cargo-handling equipment, solar power installations on terminal structures, and shore power-ready systems allowing ships to plug into the grid. These measures are expected to slash greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as well as noise and air pollution and thus, benefit not just the environment but also the workforce and the nearby communities.
Once operational (approximately in 2030), the terminal is anticipated to expand Bangladesh’s annual port handling capacity by over 800,000 TEUs, which could ‘improve’ the country’s global trade efficiency and connectivity.
Moreover, as disclosed, the new deep-water facility will allow the Port of Chattogram to handle vessels potentially up to 6,000 TEUs over time, whilst it can handle those of just up to 2,800 TEUs at the present moment.
In terms of its sustainability efforts, Bangladesh has had its peaks and valleys over the years, especially in the maritime transport industry, the world’s main trade artery.
In April 2025, the country received around $650 million from the World Bank to develop the Bay Terminal Marine Infrastructure Project in Chittagong to ‘modernize’ the port’s facilities. The effort encompasses the construction of a ‘climate-resilient’ breakwater and access channel to fit larger vessels, per Reuters.
Around a month later, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) announced that Bangladesh would create a national action plan (NAP) to cut GHG emissions from shipping and, in doing so, align the nation’s maritime industry with worldwide environmental standards.
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