Summit Alliance Port to set up river container terminal in Munshiganj

Sheikh Shahariar Zaman
Summit Alliance Port Limited (SAPL) will set up a river container terminal in Munshiganj at a cost of Tk 2.4 billion to provide better service to its clients.

“We want to provide uninterrupted transport service to our clients so that their containers can be shipped directly to Chittagong port from the container terminal,” said SAPL Deputy Managing Director Nasser Rizvi.

It will take about 16 to 18 hours for a vessel to ply to Chittagong and it will also be environment-friendly, he said.

“Containers will be transported on vessels to and from terminal to Chittagong port and it will greatly benefit importers and exporters by reducing transit time,” Mr Nasser said adding: “The terminal is expected to commence its operation next year.”

The company has already signed an agreement with IIDFC to arrange Tk 1.655 billion syndicated loan facility to set up the private sector container terminal, Mr Nasser said.

In the agreement signing ceremony SAPL Managing Director SAJ Rizvi, Finance Director Syed Fazlul Haque, Director Captain Asif Mahmud, General Manager Safi Omar, and Chairman of IIDFC Md Matiul Islam and Managing Director Md Assaduzzaman Khan were present.

The listed company was traded at Tk 260 per unit at the Dhaka Stock Exchange Wednesday.

The terminal will increase the volume of operations of the company, Mr Nasser said.

Several private sector companies and the government are planning to set up river container terminals to shift container transport from road to water to reduce time and money of exporters and importers.

Pangaon river container terminal, a government project at Pagla, will be operational by next year and Rupayun, a private company, has got the approval to set up another terminal in Narayanganj.

The government will set up another terminal at Khanpur under public-private partnership, and AK Khan Group and Kumudini Trust has already submitted proposals to set up two other terminals in Narayanganj area.

thefinancialexpress

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