Bangladesh on Thursday signed a 15-year concession agreement with UAE-based port operator DP World to operate and maintain the New Mooring Container Terminal at Chattogram Port, amid widespread protests from worker groups who had threatened to shut down the country’s main maritime gateway if the deal went through.

The signing ceremony took place at 3:00pm at the Invest Bangladesh auditorium in Dhaka, attended by shipping minister Shaikh Rabiul Alam, state minister for shipping Md Razib Ahsan, and Invest Bangladesh executive chairman Chowdhury Ashik Mahmud Bin Harun.

Chittagong Port Authority chairman Rear Admiral SM Moniruzzaman and DP World Group chairman Essa Kazim signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organisations.

‘This is not just about one container terminal. There are other terminals as well. The overall management and security will be overseen by the Chittagong Port Authority, the NBR, and intelligence agencies. These responsibilities will not be handed over to DP World,’ shipping minister Rabiul Alam told reporters following the ceremony.

The Bangladesh Labour Welfare Federation, Sramik Karmachari Oikya Parishad, and the Bandar Rokkha Committee issued separate statements on Wednesday strongly opposing the decision to hand over the terminal to a foreign operator.

The organisations demanded full transparency regarding the terms of the concession agreement, operational rights, financial liabilities, and safeguards for existing workers’ rights.

The NCT is the largest container-handling facility at Chattogram Port, handling 44 per cent of all containers loaded and unloaded at the port last year.

The terminal currently handles approximately 1.3 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) annually and is currently operated by Chattogram Dry Dock Limited, an enterprise run by the Bangladesh Navy.