NEW DELHI (Dec 7): Red Sea Gateway Terminal (RSGT), a Saudi Arabia-based port operator and an associate company of MMC Corporation Bhd in Malaysia, will operate Bangladesh’s newly built Patenga Container Terminal.

RSGT signed a 22-year concession agreement with the Chittagong Port Authority of Bangladesh on Wednesday (Dec 6).

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Saudi Investment Minister Khalid Al Falih witnessed the deal signing ceremony in Dhaka.

"We look forward to a future where Patenga Container Terminal will become a driving force for economic growth and prosperity in Bangladesh," Sheikh Hasina said, according to a Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha news agency report.

"It will act as a gateway to global trade, opening up new opportunities for our businesses to connect with the world," she said.

The agreement makes RSGT, operator of Jeddah's busy container terminal facility, the first foreign company to run a Bangladeshi port terminal.

Patenga is expected to have an annual capacity of 500,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent container units), according to a news report in the Saudi daily Arab News.

The US$240 million facility is located at Chattogram Port on the southeastern coast of Bangladesh.

The Saudi investment minister said the port deal is the beginning of a "new chapter in our very friendly relationship" with Bangladesh.