Chattogram, 20 September 2025: Adviser of the Ministry of Shipping Brigadier General (R.) Dr. M Sakhawat Hussain has said that the government is formulating a National Port Strategy to chalk out the long-term growth of the country’s land, river and seaports.
The Shipping Adviser made this remark while speaking as the chief guest of a workshop on ‘Customs and Port Management: Problems, Prospects, and Way Forward’ held today at the Chittagong Port Authority Auditorium.
Support to Sustainable Graduation Project (SSGP) of the Economic Relations Division (ERD) organized the workshop in collaboration with the Chittagong Port Authority.
Special Assistant of the Ministry of Finance Dr. Anisuzzaman Chowdhury; Senior Secretary of the Ministry of Shipping Mr. Mohammed Yousuf; Chairman of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) Mr. Md. Abdur Rahman Khan, FCMA; Chairman of the Chittagong Port Authority Rear Admiral S. M. Moniruzzaman; and Additional Commissioner of the Chattogram Ms. Nusrat Sultana attended the event as special guests. ERD Secretary Mr. Md. Shahriar Kader Siddiky chaired the workshop.
‘The National Port Strategy is being formulated. Hopefully, the strategy will be finalized by the end of this year’, the Shipping Adviser said during the event.
Regarding the recently revised tariff structure at the Chattogram port, the shipping adviser said that the government had decided to postpone the roll out of the revised tariff structure for a month.
He also informed that the government has a plan to build a cold chamber at the Mongla Port for the preservation of perishable goods. He observed that the Mongla Port could be turned into a regional trading hub by fully tapping its potential.
Special Assistant of the Ministry of Finance Dr. Anisuzzaman Chowdhury, in his speech, called for forming a taskforce comprising all the relevant agencies to expedite the operations of seaports in the country.
Discussants at the workshop called for reviewing the revised tariff structure at the Chattogram port. Regarding this, Senior Secretary of the Ministry of Shipping Mr. Mohammed Yousuf said that Bangladesh would have to maintain compliance with various rules and regulations of International Maritime Organization in the coming days.
He also noted that the country would have to invest a lot in infrastructural development of the seaports. In this context, the Shipping Secretary said that the additional funding coming from this extra tariff would be spent for such infrastructural development and meeting the IMO compliances.
Highlighting various steps taken by the government to speed up the customs procedure at ports, Chairman of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) Mr. Md. Abdur Rahman Khan, FCMA said that the government had already installed scanners at many of the ports while the provision of ‘Authorized Economic Operator’ had also been introduced.
ERD Secretary Mr. Md. Shahriar Kader Siddiky, in his speech, mentioned that Bangladesh’s domestic industries need to improve its level of environmental compliance to meet the challenges of LDC graduation. He also put emphasis on enhancing the skill base and competitiveness.
Chairman of the Chittagong Port Authority Rear Admiral S M Moniruzzaman said that a deep seaport should be built to facilitate the mooring of large ships as well as to act as a backup in case of any disruption at the Chattogram port. He also said that a comprehensive policy should be formulated to ensure seamless transition of imported and exported goods through seaports.
Former Secretary to the government and Project Adviser of SSGP Mr. Abdul Baki delivered the keynote presentation of the event.
Mr. Abdul Baki, in his keynote presentation, underscored the importance of the coordinated role of private sector operators, Chittagong Port Authority, Bangladesh Customs and other government agencies in reducing consignment clearance time.
Additional Secretary of ERD and Project Director of SSGP Mr. A. H. M. Jahangir delivered the welcome address of the event.
Member of NBR Dr. Md. Al Amin Pramanik, Member of the Chittagong Port Authority Commodore Ahamed Amin Abdullah, and Deputy Managing Director of the Chowdhury Group of Chattogram Mr. Shahed Sarwar spoke during the event as panelists.
The panel discussants, in their remarks, called for full automation of NBR and customs related procedures for speeding up the activities of seaports.
Stakeholders, during the workshop, also urged to increase the capacity of off docks. They also put emphasis on improving the road infrastructure around the Chittagong port to ease the traffic congestion. They also called for expediting the operationalization of the bay terminal.
It is notable that Bangladesh is scheduled to graduate from LDC status on 24 November 2026. As Bangladesh approaches its LDC graduation, ensuring seamless trade has become more important than ever for sustaining its development momentum and attracting foreign investments. However, multiple operational, infrastructural, and regulatory bottlenecks continue to hinder the efficiency of port and customs services resulting in the loss of competitiveness of domestic industry.
In this context, the workshop was organized to identify key challenges facing customs and port operations as well as to explore opportunities for improving port efficiency and customs clearance procedures in light of the global best practices.
Senior officials from government ministries, agencies and research institutions, representatives from relevant trade associations and think tanks attended the event.
