Tk 6.6b projects to develop land ports for spurring regional trade

The government has undertaken a number of projects worth about Tk 6.61 billion to develop the country's land ports considering their importance in regional connectivity initiatives, especially after renewal of the Indo-Bangladesh trade agreement.

Development of the land ports, officials said, will enable the country to transport goods to and from the neighbouring India as well as Nepal and Bhutan.

In its latest move, the government has also declared Sheola at Bianibazar in Sylhet, and Dhanua Kamalpur at Bakshiganj in Jamalpur as two new land ports to boost the country's trade with the India, said officials of the Bangladesh Land Port Authority (BLPA).

But the BLPA officials said most of the land ports need substantial development works to be ready for handling goods when commercial vehicles from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal (BBIN) will ply using the country's territory under the Motor Vehicles Agreement (MVA).

Under the projects, infrastructure, warehousing facilities, transshipment and inspection system, customs control procedure, institutional and regulatory framework of most of the land ports will be developed to facilitate trade. It will cut border crossing time at selected border points, said the officials.

The government has already undertaken a Tk 1.68 billion project for improvement of Benapole and Burimari land ports under South Asia Sub-regional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) Road Connectivity Project with financial assistance from the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Although approved in 2013, the government could not start the work because of multifarious problems. The ADB has recently given concurrence to bidding documents. The BLPA authorities hope to start the work soon.

The government has also undertaken a project to conduct a feasibility study for development of four land ports, including the newly declared Seola land port, 50 km from Sylhet, which earlier worked as a Land Customs Station. The government is likely to undertake development works of

Seola, Bhomra, Ramgarh and  Tegamukh land ports after completion of feasibility studies. A team of the World Bank, which will finance the project, recently visited the Seola land port to observe its present condition.

The World Bank, sources said, will also implement a number of regional connectivity projects for boosting trade and investment among Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Bhutan and help develop land ports in Nepal and Bhutan.

The government's development works also include construction of a head office for the BLPA at a cost of Tk 348 million. A detailed project profile has already been prepared in this regard and is awaiting the government's approval.

The government has approved two projects at Tamabil and Sonahat very recently.  Among these, land development work for Tamabil at a cost of Tk 100 million is going on. The Tk 365 million Sonahat development project was approved by ECNEC last week.

"We hope to complete the Burimari development project within 15 months. The project comprises construction of transshipment shed, development of drainage system and construction of roads and yards," said BLPA Chairman Tapan Kumar Chakravorty.

He, however, pointed out that development work at Benapole land port, which handles  major portion of the total imported goods from India, will take about two years to be completed.

An official of the ministry of shipping said the facilities at Benapole and Burimari land ports are almost up to the mark to cater to the present needs of trade and businesses between Bangladesh and India. "But if we expand trade with Nepal and Bhutan, the capacity of both the land ports will require to be improved," he added.

According to business operators, Bangladesh has the potential to be used as a regional corridor and needs to develop its capacity to handle huge future trade with the neighbouring countries through land borders. Recently, the government has decided to increase facilities at the land ports so that Bangladesh can join the regional connectivity scheme.

Currently, the country has a total of 20 land ports, most of which are being operated for the country's trade with India. Some of these are not fully functional due to lack of necessary infrastructures. With declaration of two new ports, the total number of land port stands at 20.

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