Finance ministry prepares 8-point strategy on transit
Monday, 6 December 2010
Nazmul Ahsan
Finance Minister AMA Muhith has outlined an eight-point strategy for Bangladesh in relation to striking transit deals with India, Nepal and Bhutan, a top official in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said.
An official communication containing the strategy has recently been sent to Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and to relevant ministries for necessary actions. Muhith has suggested that the Ministry of Commerce (MoC) play the role of lead ministry in the tasks of finalizing and coordinating the issues relating to transit, the official confirmed.
The MoC on Sunday formed a Core Committee, headed by the Chairman, Tariff Commission, to implement the strategy.
Official representatives from ministries concerned have been included in the committee, sources said.
According to the strategy, Bangladesh will finalise routes for transit through road, railway and waterways, the first and foremost pre-condition for providing transit facilities to three sub-regional countries.
Secondly, the capacity of Chittagong and Mongla ports must be increased to handle larger volume of import and export cargoes of India, Nepal and Bhutan.
The government has to establish different government offices at the entry and exit points to facilitate the transit activities. Besides, the required infrastructure must be developed at those points without further delay, Muhith elaborated in his communication.
The finance minister in his strategy said the government would start negotiation with India, Nepal and Bhutan within the next two to three months.
He said the government, particularly the MoC, will prepare a guideline on transit fees, based on the best international practices of transit traffic.
To formulate the country position, Muhith advised the MoC to organise a brain storming secession on transit with the participation of representatives from businesses, civil society, economists and other stakeholders.
The strategy mentioned that the National Board of Revenue will prepare a draft regulation on the operational modalities of transit.
Officials in the PMO and Ministry of Communications said the broad strategy would be helpful to implement the political and economic desires of the incumbent government. They, however, said the much-talked about transit issue lacks proper coordination within the administration.
"The move could have been taken soon after the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two premiers of India and Bangladesh in January this year," a top official in the communication ministry said.
A high official in the PMO said a monthly coordination meeting is being held in their office for the last eight months to review the implementation of the MoU. Dr. Moshiur Rahman, Economic Affairs Adviser to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, presides over the meetings.
However, the official said the coordination meeting has kept the transit fee and its regulation out of its purview.
"Since the coordination meetings deal with a vast area of regional cooperation including power, water, connectivity and transit, any tangible progress naturally would take some time," a high official said.
"We have progress in the areas of power and water with sub-regional countries," the official added.
He said there is a serious dearth of expertise among civil bureaucrats on the issues like transit, transshipment, connectivity, water sharing and cooperation in power sector in the regional or sub-regional perspective.
Finance Minister AMA Muhith has outlined an eight-point strategy for Bangladesh in relation to striking transit deals with India, Nepal and Bhutan, a top official in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said.
An official communication containing the strategy has recently been sent to Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and to relevant ministries for necessary actions. Muhith has suggested that the Ministry of Commerce (MoC) play the role of lead ministry in the tasks of finalizing and coordinating the issues relating to transit, the official confirmed.
The MoC on Sunday formed a Core Committee, headed by the Chairman, Tariff Commission, to implement the strategy.
Official representatives from ministries concerned have been included in the committee, sources said.
According to the strategy, Bangladesh will finalise routes for transit through road, railway and waterways, the first and foremost pre-condition for providing transit facilities to three sub-regional countries.
Secondly, the capacity of Chittagong and Mongla ports must be increased to handle larger volume of import and export cargoes of India, Nepal and Bhutan.
The government has to establish different government offices at the entry and exit points to facilitate the transit activities. Besides, the required infrastructure must be developed at those points without further delay, Muhith elaborated in his communication.
The finance minister in his strategy said the government would start negotiation with India, Nepal and Bhutan within the next two to three months.
He said the government, particularly the MoC, will prepare a guideline on transit fees, based on the best international practices of transit traffic.
To formulate the country position, Muhith advised the MoC to organise a brain storming secession on transit with the participation of representatives from businesses, civil society, economists and other stakeholders.
The strategy mentioned that the National Board of Revenue will prepare a draft regulation on the operational modalities of transit.
Officials in the PMO and Ministry of Communications said the broad strategy would be helpful to implement the political and economic desires of the incumbent government. They, however, said the much-talked about transit issue lacks proper coordination within the administration.
"The move could have been taken soon after the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two premiers of India and Bangladesh in January this year," a top official in the communication ministry said.
A high official in the PMO said a monthly coordination meeting is being held in their office for the last eight months to review the implementation of the MoU. Dr. Moshiur Rahman, Economic Affairs Adviser to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, presides over the meetings.
However, the official said the coordination meeting has kept the transit fee and its regulation out of its purview.
"Since the coordination meetings deal with a vast area of regional cooperation including power, water, connectivity and transit, any tangible progress naturally would take some time," a high official said.
"We have progress in the areas of power and water with sub-regional countries," the official added.
He said there is a serious dearth of expertise among civil bureaucrats on the issues like transit, transshipment, connectivity, water sharing and cooperation in power sector in the regional or sub-regional perspective.