Staff Reporter :
Experts and businesses at webinar on Saturday emphasised on the formation and implementation of the National Logistics Strategy for the country’s further development.
They said the logistics charge increases the overall production and business operation cost by 4.5-48 per cent.
The implementation of three initiatives like reducing dwell times at Chattogram Port and highways congestion along with initiation of national logistics strategy would increase overall export by 19 per cent, they added.
They made the comments while speaking at the Logistics Infrastructure Development Working Committee meeting jointly organised by Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and Business Initiative Leading Development (BUILD).
Md Tofazzel Hossain Miah, Secretary of the PMO, said that Bangladesh cannot move forward without supporting the private sector, engine of economic growth, during this worldwide economic transition period.
“Logistics needs more investment and the existing policy needs reforms so that more investment is made,” he said.
He recommended that the sector should be based on technology and skill.
Referring the success stories of China, India, and Vietnam stand out as best practices in logistics, BUILD Chairperson Abul Kasem Khan informed that developing countries invest 9-10 per cent of their GDP to improve their logistics environment and the return on investment is one of the highest in the world.
“Structural reform is required to mitigate key bottlenecks of the logistics system in Bangladesh and the logistics sector should be declared as a thrust sector with proper incentives to attract local and foreign investment,” said Kasem, also former president of the DCCI.
Rizwan Rahman, President of the DCCI, focused on the specific solution as logistics should be included in the industrial policy as a sector, privatisation of airports, seaports, railroads is the demand of time, decentralisation of industrialisation should be incentivised to attract investment and Special Procurement Act should be considered to prepare logistics policy.
In the keynote on Reducing Logistics Costs to Enhance Bangladesh’s Trade Competitiveness and Export Growth, Tatiana Peralta Quiros, Senior Transport Specialist of World Bank Group, said that logistics cost increases the overall production and business operation cost by 4.5-48 per cent.
