National logistics strategy underscored at BUILD’s meeting

Business Initiative Leading Development (BUILD) and Prime Minister’s Office jointly organised the Logistics Infrastructure Development Working Committee meeting on Saturday.

The virtual meeting was co-chaired by Md Tofazzel Hossain Miah, Secretary of Prime Minister’s Office, and Abul Kasem Khan, Chairperson of BUILD.

Md. Tofazzel Hossain Miah started by attesting that Bangladesh cannot move forward without supporting the private sector during this worldwide economic transition period.

He said, logistics needs more investment, and the existing policy needs reforms so that more investment is made. He recommended that the sector should be based on technology and skill.

Adding that the private sector should also assist with value-backed data, he emphasised advocacy for logistics.

Abul Kasem Khan, Chairperson of BUILD informed that developing countries invest 9-10% of their GDP to improve their logistics environment.

“Success stories of China, India, and Vietnam stand out as best practices in logistics. 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. Logistics sector should be declared as a thrust sector besides a high priority sector and proper incentives should be declared to attract local and foreign investment.”

Rizwan Rahman, President, DCCI, focused on the specific solution as: (1) logistics should be included in the industrial policy as a sector, (2) privatisation of airports, seaports, railroads is the demand of time, 3) decentralisation of industrialisation should be incentivised to attract investment, (4) Special Procurement Act should be considered to prepare logistics policy.

Mahbubul Alam, President, CCCI, said that there is no policy on the in-out time of container trucks in Chattogram.

The establishment of a central truck terminal may reduce the congestion stemming from this and water connectivity may reduce over-dependency on the road, he said.

Ferdaus Ara Begum, CEO, BUILD in her presentation informed that BUILD and the Ministry of Industries are working together to include logistics as a high priority sector and declare investment incentives for logistics and its sub-sectors in a separate chapter of the upcoming National Industrial Policy 2021.

Formulation and implementation of the National Integrated Logistics Policy or Master Plan could help attract investment and increase export competitiveness to realize the targets of 8th Five Years Plan and Perspective Plan 2041.