Economic Adviser to the Prime Minister Dr Mashiur Rahman said Tuesday that the country needs a single regulatory body to coordinate multimodal transports, which can help accelerate growth.
"There are administrative agencies running separately for various modes of transports but there is no single authority to coordinate the multimodal transports. Now, we need a regulatory body for all modes of transports," he said.
His comments came at a seminar on 'Inland Waterways: Reshaping Connectivity and Creating Economic Opportunities,' organised by the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry at a hotel in Dhaka.
Mr Rahman said the regulatory body would facilitate a set of transport options for the country's business, so that they can use whichever suitable for them.
He said transport services operators should be regulated so that they can't control business.
"But regulatory authority will not dictate who use which mode of transports. The bureaucracy will not control the business, they will only facilitate," he said.
DCCI President Abul Kashem Chowdhury said that they country needs inland waterways ecosystem through policy formulation, long-term infrastructure development planning and increased focus on both public and private investment for targeted growth achievement.
Country Operations Manager of Maersk Bangladesh Ltd Mohammad Sarwar Alam Chowdhury said there would be substantial growth in the coming years, but the Chittagong port was not ready to deliver the services as per the pace.
"We have focused only on the road connectivity. Now it is time we utilised our natural advantage of waterways to cater the growth," he said.
"Private entrepreneurs have shown interest to develop waterways. The government should help them with policy guidelines," he said.
He also urged the government to reduce trade imbalance with India so that transshipment agreements can be used fully.
"We have coastal agreement with India but it is not working. Most of the time, our vessels go empty to Indian ports but return with huge amount of goods. If they government does not take initiative to reduce trade gap the transshipment using waterways would not work."
Terminal Manager of Pangaon Inland Container Terminal Ahamedul Karim Chowdhury said that Pangaon is ready to serve the business communities in Dhaka but they are not using the service.
Ambassador of the Netherlands in Dhaka Leoni Margaretha Cuelenaere said that Bangladesh has good waterways.
"How come has the country never used waterways for all types of goods transport?" she asked.
Managing Director of Kuehne+Nagel Ltd Tarun Patwary and Country head of Marks and Spencer (Bangladesh and Myanmar) Shwapna Bhowmick also spoke at the seminar.
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