BGMEA writes to Indian envoy over delay at land port

Bangladesh Garments Manufacturer and Exporters Association requested the high commissioner of India in Dhaka to end the crippling delay at Bangaon-Benapole land port and expedite the bilateral trade.

The Bangladesh Garments Manufacturer and Exporters Association (BGMEA) President Faruque Hassan made the request in a letter to the Indian High Commissioner Vikram K Doraiswami on Sunday.

In the letter BGMEA president wrote: “RMG sector of Bangladesh is facing a challenge to meet up the lead time given by foreign buyers to export apparels in the middle of pandemic and lockdown situation. Bangladeshi apparel exporters are importing a substantial volume of raw materials from India and the transit time from India to Bangladesh is critical.

Recently, we are facing crippling delays while importing goods from India. We are hearing from the Forwarding and Clearing agents in Benapole that the scrutiny/security measures and lack of manpower for export of goods at Indian customs point particularly Bangaon are facing long delays.”

Faruque Hassan in his letter claimed that due to the huge amount of import and export through the port, goods-laden trucks remain stuck at Indian point which is hampering import and export businesses with India and impacting the transit time of raw materials for the RMG sector in Bangladesh.”

“Kindly take up the issue with authorities concerned of your country and resolve the problem at your earliest to expedite the bilateral trade between India and Bangladesh, which is extremely important for our RMG sector,” urged Faruque Hassan in his letter.