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Seminar on Enhancing Bangladesh’s Logistic Sector for Sustainable Economic Growth
DCCI President Taskeen Ahmed said that in this new era to improve in the export, import sector, reducing logistics cost and enhancing efficiency will be critical to compete in the international market. Right now, Bangladesh ranks 88th out of 139 countries in the Logistics Performance Index 2023. Port congestion, customs delays, and fragmented infrastructure continue to push up logistics cost, estimated to be 15-20% of GDP, far above the global average of 8-10%, he added. These were told by Taskeen Ahmed, President of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DCCI) at a seminar on “Enhancing Bangladesh’s Logistic Sector for Sustainable Economic Growth” held on 29 June, 2025 at DCCI auditorium.
Taskeen Ahmed also said that ports are the lifeline of our trade. Chattogram and Mongla ports alone handle 92% of our international trade, contributing nearly 30% of our GDP. Upgrading these with container scanners, off-dock automation, AI-driven traffic management, and flexible port charges is essential. He also suggested for connecting shippers and transporters through digital platform, deploying warehouse management system (WMS), robotics and cold-chain logistics to boost operational efficiency and seamless connection of road, rail, river and sea transportation system. Later, he said that platforms like ASYCUDA and the National Single Window should be expanded and integrated to eliminate bureaucratic delays, reduce corruption and ensure faster cross-border movement of goods. The DCCI President Taskeen Ahmed also called for providing necessary policy support and financial incentives to involve the private sector in the development of ICDs.
Dr. M. Masrur Reaz, Chairman and CEO, Policy Exchange of Bangladesh in his keynote presentation said that in the last few decades Bangladesh has set an example in the global arena through its commendable economic progress but it was mainly dependent on a single export item that is RMG which is contributing almost 82% to our total export earnings. We actually failed to diversify our exportable products as well as find new export destinations that basically hover around EU, UK and USA based market destinations. In various competitive indices and sub-indices like global competitiveness index, global innovation index, global skill report, Bangladesh lags behind than its regional competitors like India, Vietnam, Japan and Cambodia. He later said that there is no alternative but to increase the trade facilitation and logistics capacity to survive in the global trade competition. Highlighting the importance of logistics, he mentioned that it is possible to increase export by about 20% if only 25% of the logistics cost can be reduced, and 7.4% export can be enhanced if the transportation cost can be reduced by 1%. In conclusion, he said the a sub-sector development roadmap master plan is a must for the effective implementation of the National Logistics Policy which is yet to roll out. Later, he urged for better improvement of air transportation, rail transportation services, sea ports, land ports, private ICDs and cold-chain logistics. He further proposed to provide common or centralized bonded warehouse facilities for SMEs to enhance export readiness.
Dr. Sheik Moinuddin, Special Assistant to the Chief Adviser, Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges stressed on a multimodal transportation ecosystem consisting of road, rail, river, air, sea including information super highway to increase our competitive ability in global trade after the post-LDC era, otherwise our economy will face a big challenge. He also said that one of the main hindrances to the development of logistics sector is that we do not have any bigger and long-term master plan. He informed that the government is working towards an integrated transport system suitable for the next 25-50 years and urged the private sector to come forward in this regard. He opined that Bangladesh is often deprived of getting the desired results from the adopted policies due to its inability to ensure the participation of the relevant stakeholders in the policy formulation process.
Md. Salim Ullah, Chairman, Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC) said the government has already formed a committee to re-visit the recently formulated logistics policy. He also informed that BIWTA has taken an initiative to prepare a master plan soon for the development of inland water transport logistic system in the country.
Abul Kasem Khan, Chairperson, Business Initiative Leading Development (BUILD) said as far as the development of logistics sector is concerned, Bangladesh lags behind a lot and still is in the same place where we were earlier. The reality is that in this sector our progress is not at the desired level, which is quite disappointing. He said the infrastructure and logistics sector alone needs an investment of 8 - 10% of GDP or about $20 billion every year to achieve the desired development goals. He pointed out that at present, Bangladesh can merely attract $1 to $1.5 billion FDI in the country, but the infrastructure and logistics sector can attract a huge amount of FDI like other countries do have. He also said that it is necessary to take up a holistic master plan to create a sustainable and reliable infrastructure for the next 50 years. He also proposed to create a separate ministry or authority to oversee the development of the logistics sector, while also insisted the government to announce the period from 2026-2035 as the Logistics Decade.
Md. Habibur Rahman, Additional Secretary, Member (Admin and Planning), Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) said the capacity of the country's seaports will reach to about 10 million TEUs by 2030, but to ensure its use, the private sector will have to increase the import-export activities manifold otherwise it will remain underutilized. He also informed that in every five year we are losing about 2% of arable land, in that case, railways could be the most cost-effective transportation system in logistics sector. He later opined that it would be beneficial if a special expressway can be made from Chittagong port to Sitakunda only for trucks and Lorries. He also informed that Pangaon river port in Narayangonj has been counting a loss of taka 3 crore each month, therefore, he called upon the private sector to take a lease from the public sector and to run it successfully.
Alamgir Morshed, Executive Director & CEO, Infrastructure Development Company Limited (IDCOL) stated that long-term financing remains a major bottleneck for developing logistics infrastructure in our country. Besides, our financial sector is going through a tough time and there is a lack of long-term financing schemes in the capital market, he added. To tackle this issue, he proposed to introduce multiple bond instruments for long term infrastructure financing. He further said that there is a lack of capacity and skilled manpower in this sector, to improve our overall competency there is ample scope for foreign investors to participate in this process and it should be considered positively, he added.
Mr. Shamim Ul Huq, Country Director, DP World, Bangladesh said that digitalization should be utilized to enhance the productivity of warehouses. Our infrastructure is not ready, we need to adopt gradually, he added.
Humayun Kabir, Senior Project Officer (Transport), Transport Sector Office, Asian Development Bank (ADB) said that in order to implement Bangladesh’s logistics policy, ADB is keen to provide necessary technical support and currently they are working closely with the government toward this goal. They are also doing various studies in related to logistics sector and wished to work with the government together for the development of this sector.
Mohammad Naquib Uddin Khan, President of Bangladesh Supply Chain Management Society stated that to increase reliability in the logistics sector, reducing costs and lead time, as well as enhancing speed, are essential. Moreover, in order to further develop this sector, he also urged for creating more investment opportunities and encouraging public-private partnerships (PPPs) to promote joint ventures.
Rear Admiral M Khaled Iqbal (Retired), Former Chairman, Chittagong Port Authority, Abdul Haque, President of BARVIDA, Osama Taseer, former President of DCCI, M. Abu Horairah, former Vice President of DCCI, A.K.D. Khair Mohammad Khan, former Director of DCCI and Abrarul Alam, Convener of DCCI’s Standing Committee also spoke on the occasion. The discussants emphasized the need to establish more compliant Inland Container Depots (ICDs) led by the private sector, increase dredging activities to improve river navigability, boost port-led economic activities, and strengthen inter-agency coordination among government bodies.
DCCI Senior Vice President Razeev H Chowdhury and Vice President Md. Salem Sulaiman were also present during the seminar.
Published on: 2025-06-29