Bangladesh's apex chamber wants capacity building of Chittagong seaport and faster cargo transport to cope with potential trade expansion and draw more foreign investors in the country.
The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) predicts that if production starts in full swing in Bangabandhu Industrial City and other special economic zones of the country, then the pressure on the prime seaport will increase manifold.
"At least 5.0 per cent of cost of doing business could be reduced if the capacity of Chittagong port is enhanced and foreign entrepreneurs would get interest in investing in Bangladesh," the apex trade body says in a standing-committee meet.
The recommendations were made during the first meeting of the FBCCI Standing Committee on Ports and Shipping on Thursday afternoon at the trade body's office in Dhaka.
FBCCI President Md. Jashim Uddin called for increasing the capacity of the port and speeding up haulage now as they foresee prospect of trade expansion.
"At present the speed of cargo vehicles on the Dhaka-Chattogram highway is 40 kilometres per hour. If this speed is doubled, the competitiveness of the export sector will increase by 6 per cent," he said.
He recommended that chemicals imported through Chittagong port be tested separately before unloading.
"Chittagong Customs does not have adequate laboratories. It takes importers 10 to 12 days to get the test done. Steps should be taken immediately to solve these problems related to the port," he says.
The FBCCI president urged the standing committee to find short-, medium- and long-term solutions by identifying the problems regarding the Chittagong port.
FBCCI vice-president Md. Amin Helaly said some more ports would be opened in the future. "If we can work according to the plan, the progress of the country can be further accelerated by utilising the potential of these ports."
FBCCI vice-president Md. Habib Ullah Dawn alleged that importing vehicles through Chittagong port would cost double the fare as compared to Mongla port. He termed different fares in different ports of the same country "unreasonable".
Standing Committee Director-in-Charge A.M. Mahbub Chowdhury noted that the profit of Chittagong port has increased several times in the last few years.
"Despite being a non-profit service organisation, it was taking step to increase the tariffs again to increase the amount of profit," he said. Chairman of the committee Dr Md. Pervez Shazzad Aktar made a strong plea for not increasing the tariffs in order to create a business-friendly environment.
"Most tariffs have to be paid in dollar. If the tariff increases, the cost of foreign exchange will also increase," he reminded.
Moreover, foreign ship owners can also increase the fare in this opportunity. In that case, there will be fear of an increase in the price of imported goods, he cautioned about the correlation between the cost of doing business and the cost of living based on price rises.
In the open discussion, the members of the standing committee expected that the seaport and customs officials would gear up the import-export activities to help augment the country's foreign trade.
talhabinhabib@yahoo.com