The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has asked the ministry of shipping (MoS) to take necessary steps for providing transit facilities to India, Nepal and Bhutan to use Mongla port, official said.
Prime Minister's economic affairs adviser Dr Mashiur Rahman conveyed the message in a recent letter to the shipping minister Shajahan Khan.
He mentioned that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina took the decision on the basis of a plea of the Khulna Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI).
India wants to use Bangladesh's seaports to carry goods to its seven sister states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura.
Nepal and Bhutan are also interested to use the ports for facilitating their external trade.
Officials said the underused Mongla port will become busy and its earnings will significantly increase once India, Nepal, and Bhutan start using the port.
The government is looking for various options to enhance use of the seaport as per its capacity.
The KCCI suggested making mandatory handling of raw materials of factories located in Khulna, Rajshahi and Barisal division, and cent per cent import of fertiliser through Mongla port.
Talking to the FE Friday, Mongla Port Authority (MPA) chairman Riazuddin Ahmed welcomed the government's move to let the neighbouring countries use the seaport.
"We are ready to handle cargoes of India, Nepal and Bhutan. Almost half of the total capacity of the port now remains unused," he said.
In fiscal year 2015-16, the port handled some six million tonnes of goods against its capacity to handle 13 million tonnes of goods.   Â
The port has handling capacity of 0.25 million TEUs (twenty feet equivalent units) of containerised goods while it handled nearly 43,000 TEUs of goods in last fiscal year, said the MPA chairman.
"On an average, only one or two ships stay in the port. Most of the anchorage points also remain unoccupied," Mr Ahmed said.
He said the port has been further raising its capacity and in next two three years, it will increase significantly.
The MPA chairman, quoting various studies, said containerised cargo handling of the port may see a big jump by 2018 when vehicles will start plying through the Padma Bridge.
Bangladesh has already granted transit and transhipment facility to neighbouring India. It is already carrying goods to its seven sister states using Ashuganj river port.
In June last year, Bangladesh and India signed a memorandum of understanding for letting Delhi use Chittagong and Mongla ports for movement of goods to and from India. But necessary agreement and protocols are yet to be finalised for implementation of the memorandum. Â
   syful-islam@outlook.com
PMO for allowing three neighbours to use Mongla
Syful Islam | Published: September 10, 2016 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00
Share if you like