Skip to content Skip to Search
Skip navigation

Saudi port operator to develop Bangladesh terminal

By Andy Sambidge
Chittagong Port will be developed and operated by Saudi company RSGTI CC BY-SA 4.0/Moheen Reeyad
Chittagong Port will be developed and operated by Saudi company RSGTI
  • $170m deal for Chittagong Port
  • Concession for 22 years
  • RSGTI in talks with other ports

Saudi company Red Sea Gateway Terminal International Limited (RSGTI) has signed a 22-year concession to develop a container terminal at Bangladesh’s primary port in a deal worth $170 million.

RSGTI, a subsidiary of the Sustained Infrastructure Holding Company (Sisco), signed the deal with the Chittagong Port Authority to develop Patenga Container Terminal.

In a filing to the Saudi Stock Exchange, the company revealed it is in “advanced negotiations” with several other international ports to expand its project pipeline.

Under the Bangladesh concession agreement, RSGTI will develop and operate a 500,000-twenty-foot equivalent unit facility. 

The terminal, which currently features a 580-metre quay, will be equipped with new technologies to handle the fast-growing export market, the company said. 

The capital expenditure for the Bangladesh concession will be funded through debt and equity, it added.

The concession has been signed in partnership with the Public Investment Fund, a 40 percent shareholder in RSGTI, to accelerate its global expansion ambitions. 

The financial impact of the Bangladesh concession on Sisco’s financial statements is expected to be reflected from 2024.

The Port of Chittagong serves as the gateway for 90 percent of import and export activities in Bangladesh, which has a population of 160 million people. 

Sisco’s five-year strategy, announced in late 2021, aims to double revenue to SAR2 billion and increase assets under management to SAR6 billion by 2026. 

According to latest data from the Observatory of Economic Complexity, Saudi Arabia exported products worth $1.1 billion to Bangladesh in 2021, while goods worth $488 million went the other way.

Fertilisers and clothing were the most traded products.

In October, the International Monetary Fund revised down its growth forecast for Bangladesh’s economy to 6 percent for the fiscal year 2023-24 amid sustained high inflation and external payment challenges.

Latest articles

Head, Person, Face

India’s Adani set to raise $1bn from Middle East wealth fund

Adani Group, led by Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, is in advanced discussions with an unnamed sovereign wealth fund from the Middle East to raise up to $1 billion for its airports business, a news report said. The first tranche of the fundraising will be finalised by the end of the fourth quarter of 2024, Economic […]

Saudi Arabia launches e-karting racing tracks in 6 cities

Six cities in Saudi Arabia are set to get Hot Wheels e-karting racing tracks. The indoor e-karts will be a venture between Saudi Entertainment Ventures (Seven), part of Qiddiya Investment Company (QIC), and US toy maker Mattel. The Hot Wheels e-karting will be available in entertainment complexes such as Riyadh, Makkah, Taif, Al Madinah, Tabuk, and Jazan. In January, Seven […]

Sainsbury's has the second-largest share of the UK grocery market, at 15 percent, behind Tesco at 28 percent

Qatar to reduce stake in UK supermarket Sainsbury’s

Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund is selling part of its 15 percent stake in the British supermarket Sainsbury’s as the fund pushes ahead with expansion in the United States and Asia, particularly China and India. Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), the biggest shareholder in Sainsbury’s, is selling £306 million ($399 million) worth of shares in the retailer, […]

Shoppers in Kuwait's Avenues Mall – the IMF says the country needs to encourage private sector employment

Kuwait needs to push reforms for economic growth, says IMF

Kuwait must accelerate the introduction of fiscal and structural reforms that are needed to increase private sector-led growth and diversify its economy away from hydrocarbons, the International Monetary Fund said on Friday. Kuwait’s economy will contract by 3.2 percent this year because of an Opec+ oil production cut, but will grow by 2.8 percent in 2025 […]