People of the entire South Asian region including Bangladesh depend on the Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal since time immemorial for their life and livelihood. And it is no different in today’s age. This region is currently a major focus in the global spectrum because of its sheer economic growth, trade and market expansion which in turn creates huge opportunity to expand logistics and maritime-related services. Bangladesh is a maritime country due to its geographical location as the country not only connects to South Asia but also to South East Asia, Asia Pacific, Europe and Africa through the sea. The government has taken pragmatic steps in order to develop the maritime sector. The revival of waterways and building new seaports, infrastructural development with hinterland connectivity and river ports imply that the government is giving necessary importance to the port-led development.
Keeping in line with increasing economic growth, Bangladesh’s international trade is increasing day-by-day through waterways. The total export-import through waterways was 43.17mmt in FY2010-11, which increased to 73.21mmt in FY2016-17. With support from multilateral and bilateral development partners, the government is planning to scale up investments to provide sustained navigability of the waterways, modernise existing river ports, build new ports and inland container depots to improve cargo and passenger handling. Aiming for a sustainably developed Bangladesh, the Ministry of Shipping has been engaged in knowledge sharing, seeking business and investment opportunities through enhanching the regional relationship and solution for exisiting regional connectivity challenges.
By comprehending the importance of the regional maritime connectivity, Bangladesh Ministry of Shipping in an association with the Gateway Media (Pvt) Ltd of India and Colombo International Maritime Conference Event (CIMC) of Sri Lanka took the pragmatic decision to host the 2nd South Asia Maritime & Logistics Forum (SAMLF) in Dhaka, Bangladesh on 9-10 October 2018 to uphold and nurture the maritime economic relation between South Asian countries. The Ministry of Shipping (MoS) did its best to maintain the highest level of professionalism in conducting the 2nd SMALF in Le Meridien Hotel, Dhaka. Attendees felt grateful to the organisers for arranging such a grand regional forum since it laid the carpet for international maritime connection building and future depiction of regional maritime trade and commerce.
The beginning of a shared journey
In relation to this, the South Asia Maritime and Logistics Forum (SAMLF) aims to bring together governments, trade associations and industries in South Asian region in contact with leading business enterprises from Europe, Middle East, South East Asia and beyond. SAMLF is an organised platform for knowledge of opportunities, connections with the right people and interaction with governments. This forum is playing a key role in bringing deep insights into maritime infrastructure, focus on investment opportunities and bring meaningful relationships to the table. It also explores opportunities, finds solutions for the existing challenges, shares best practices and identifies ways to collaborate.
The 1st edition of SAMLF was held on 7 September 2017, Mumbai, India with the support of Ministry of Shipping, Govt. of India. Nine countries of South Asia came together to see how they can all work together as a region for economic growth, trade and market expansion by creating a massive opportunity. Maritime professionals from India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Singapore and Nepal spoke of the expanding logistics sector and the related services that have caused disruption in the trade. Many business prospects for the global transportation industry were discussed in that forum. The forum was ratified and endorsed by the Shipping Minister of India, Nitin Gadkari. The first forum was hugely successful in generating great interest among all the stakeholders to develop new maritime opportunities in the region. The goal of the conference was to explore opportunities, find solutions for existing challenges and share best practices with each other.
A glittering conference
Around 120 government and private representatives from 20 countries, including India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Nepal and Bhutan, attended the two-day conference of 2nd SAMLF. The Hon’ble Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the two-day Forum as the Chief Guest. In her welcome speech, she said, proper utilisation of maritime resources available in South Asia can help the region to achieve tremendous success in the socio-economic development of the people. The Premier in her inaugural speech demonstrated her firm commitment and willingness to initiate effectual dialogue in this direction. She mentioned that Bangladesh is a land of earliest rivers and water vessels have always been the primary means of transport here. The rivers and water bodies of Bangladesh are inherently connected to each other. Restoring the primacy of inland water transport as a logical and competitive mode of transportation is one of the key priorities of the government. The Prime Minister of Bangladesh expressed her genuine trust in the Forum. Besides, she made a serious call for all stakeholders to commit to improving the lives of the South Asian people through augmenting the region’s trade and commerce. She said, “With the support of our bilateral development partners, we will scale up our investments to provide sustained navigability of our waterways, modernise existing river ports, build new ports and inland container depots to improve cargo and passenger handling.”
Md. Abdus Samad, Secretary, Ministry of Shipping, Government of People’s Republic of Bangladesh,
Riaz Hamidullah, Hon’ble High Commissioner of Bangladesh to Sri Lanka, gave their thoughtful speeches on
investment opportunities and infrastructure growth of Bangladesh.
In his speech, former Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan said, “South Asia has shown outstanding economic growth in the past two decades and maintained a significant share in the regional and international trade. It has a very promising prospect of developing the maritime and shipping sector to take lead in maritime business in the 21st century.”
Hon’ble guest, Indian State Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Shipping, Chemical and Fertilisers, Mansukh Laxmanbhai Mandaviya said, “Initiatives taken by both countries such as coastal shipping for cargo and cruise service will also propel economic growth.”
Sri Lankan State Minister for National Policies and Economic Affairs Harsha De Silva also spoke in the conference. He confidently said, “Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have almost finalised a bilateral coastal shipping agreement to boost trade, investment and maritime connectivity between Dhaka and Colombo. It will increase the frequency of feeder services between Chattogram port and Colombo to cut down both the transhipment cost and time, boosting competitiveness, especially for the apparel industry.”
Session summary of day-one
Day-one of the conference observed a plenary session followed by the inaugural session. It started after inaugural speeches and a small break for refreshment. It was on investment opportunities and infrastructure growth of Bangladesh. Speakers also gave importance on BIMSTEC integration with the Bay of Bengal region for boosting maritime trade and commerce. At the outset, Moderator and Chairperson, Kazi M Aminul Islam, Executive Chairman, Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) Bangladesh, called for a clear focus on improving logistics. After the Plenary Session, the day-one of the heavyweight conference ended with networking break and light entertainment.
Quote: “Significant developments are on the cards. In June 2015 Bangladesh and India signed the coastal shipping agreement and in October 2018 Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are close to finalising a coastal shipping agreement. Combining these two developments, there is a tremendous business case coming up,” said H.E. Riaz Hamidullah, Hon’ble High Commissioner of Bangladesh to Sri Lanka.
Session Summary of day-two
Day-two opened with the Business Session One and the theme was ‘Policy Track: Bilateral Trade, Protocols and Connectivity Projects.’ The speakers emphasised the implementation of regional connectivity projects between neighbouring nations. Besides, maritime and logistics infrastructure, capacity expansion happening in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to benefit the trade movement were also discussed.
Quote: “Be it ports in India, Bangladesh or Sri Lanka, how do we increase the volumes of cargo? Are we doing business amongst ourselves?” questioned Md. Abul Kalam Azad, Principal Coordinator (SDG Affairs), Prime Minister’s Office, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh.
The theme of the Business Session Two was, ‘Ports and Terminals Track: Port Infrastructure in South Asia, Expanding and Upgrading Projects, Capacities and Operational Efficiency’. The session discussed endless business possibilities by using coastal protocol route, developing rail connectivity and promoting transhipment among the ASEAN nations.
Quote: “It is very important to understand why South Asia matters? South Asia is our route to progress,” said Dr Gowher Rizvi, International Affairs Adviser to Hon’ble Prime Minister, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh.
The Business Session Three had a theme on logistics and distribution titled, ‘Maritime Allied Infrastructure: Dredging, Shipbuilding and Bunkering’. Throughout the session, a clear picture of where Bangladesh stands in the global scenario in shipbuilding, bunkering and the significance of river dredging for the country was placed before the audience.
Quote: “If we see the statistics, only 3 countries are at the forefront in shipbuilding – Korea, Japan and China. Even though Bangladesh is lagging behind in this sector, but not to that extent,” shared Rear Admiral Md. Khurshed Alam (retd), Hon’ble Secretary, Maritime Affairs Unit, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of People’s Republic of Bangladesh.
After the lunch break, the Forum proceeded with the Business Session Four on a theme, ‘Logistics and Distribution Track: Cargo Transportation, Inland Water Transport, Rail and Road Connections, Coastal Shipping and Transhipment, Airfreight & E-commerce’. In this session, bureaucrats and stakeholders from the maritime fraternity identified lack of trust and tariff and non-tariff barriers severely hindering the trade growth in the region. Finally, the curtain of the elegant international conference was drawn in the valedictory session. The table shows the session-wise list of the 2nd SAMLF conference speakers.
Quote: “South Asia has been a late starter, while other regions such as North America are doing quite good in maritime connectivity,” said Md. Nojibur Rahman, Principal Secretary, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh.
Table: Session theme and speaker list
List of industry-wise participants in the conference
• Governments: National/Federal
• Senior Bureaucrats
• Funding Agencies: Banks/Financial Institutions/Venture Capitalists
• Shippers: Importers, Exporters, Retailers, Manufacturers
• Ports: Inland, Ocean Terminal
• Ocean Carriers: MLOS/Feeder Operators/Coastal Operator
• Container Train Operators
• Trucking and Haulage Companies
• Distribution Centres/Warehouses
• 3PLs/Freight Forwarders
• Technology Service Providers
• Port Equipment Providers
• Trade and Industry Associations
• Lawyers/Insurance Companies/Consultants
Regional connotation
Since Bangladesh at the crossroad of South Asia and Southeast Asia, the country can play the pivotal role to become a connectivity hub of this region. For sustainable development of the country, Bangladesh has launched the ‘Delta plan 2100’ and the ‘Vision 2041’ to become a developed and powerful maritime nation within this century. To materialise development visions, the country must seek maritime connectivity with her neighbours and develop port-led infrastructure synchronised to the pace and process of regional maritime development. The 2nd SAMLF has given us the opportunity to have a better insight into regional maritime relation between South Asian maritime nations.
India
Recently, the government of India has launched the flagship Sagarmala Programme to promote port-led development while reducing logistics cost for increasing competitiveness of the manufactured products. This would foster industrial growth and create new jobs. India also proposes to develop two ports as transhipment hubs and State-of-the-art ship repair facility on the east coast of India. These initiatives will help Bangladesh by offering services much closer to its geographical boundaries.
To boost inland water transport, the Government of India has declared 111 river systems as national waterways for making them navigable. Development activities have been taken up in a phased manner for the development of these newly declared national waterways. India is keen to undertake the development of two prominent waterways in the northeast region on the Brahmaputra. Initiatives taken by both countries such as coastal shipping for cargo and cruise service could also propel economic growth.
Sri Lanka
While Sri Lanka is identified as a South Asian nation, it sees itself as more of an Indian Ocean nation. Dr Harsha de Silva, Minister of National Policies and Economic Affairs of Sri Lanka revealed in his address, quoting a World Bank report, that South Asia is nowhere near its potential in regional trade. It should be trading three times more among the countries than the current levels. He also pointed out the drawbacks e.g. the cost of trade which is 20 per cent more than country pairs in ASEAN and three times higher than corresponding costs among NAFTA, renamed USMCA countries. He said SAFTA is still far from achieving the goal of tariff-free trade. Integration of trade among South Asia must be looked at as being complementary and as a stepping stone for deeper global integration.
The minister said, “Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have almost finalised a bilateral coastal shipping agreement to boost trade, investment and maritime connectivity between Dhaka and Colombo.”
It will increase the frequency of feeder services between the ports of Chittagong and Colombo to cut down both the transhipment cost and time, boosting competitiveness, especially for the apparel industry.
Bangladesh
The Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman gave necessary importance to endless sea resources for developing maritime excellence. Under the leadership of his daughter Hon’ble Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh has established its legitimate rights over the sea, developed ports with modern facilities and sustainable inland waterways by carrying out 1500km of dredging in the past 10 years.
Bangladesh’s EXIM trade is growing at the rate of 14 per cent annually and Chattogram port plays a key role as it handles about 4,000 ships in a year. Infrastructure at the port is being upgraded with the construction of new jetties and terminals. Plans are onboard to further add 25 more jetties to Chattogram port and more quay cranes will be installed which will drastically improve the turnaround time for ships. New jetties are also being planned at Bay Terminal. Activity at Mongla Port has also increased and the port now handles about 700 ships in a year.
More Jetties and terminals are being added to Mongla Port along with cargo handling equipment to increase its capacity. Payra Port is being developed and will be ready in two years for mother vessels to call. Port at Matarbari is being developed with help from JICA.
At Mirsarai about 100 economic zones are being developed and to connect these industrial clusters a port is also being planned in that location.
About 30 river ports are being developed to enable quick movement of cargo and to decongest roads.
Bangladesh and the 2nd SAMLF
Key stakeholders from the Bangladesh maritime fraternity deliberated on the current status of maritime and logistics infrastructure in the country and development plans on the drawing board. At the outset, Executive Chairman, Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) Kazi M Aminul Islam, Bangladesh, called for a clear focus on improving logistics. Bangladesh has the second largest RMG sector in the world but the profit margin in this sector is becoming slim by the day. Mr Amin said, “We have to improve our competitiveness by upgrading our services. One of the important areas in this regard is maritime logistics,”
Connectivity is not a standalone issue and needs contribution by all nations and by all means, which includes improving logistics infrastructure as well. Chairman of Kolkata Port Trust, India Vinit Kumar elaborated on infrastructure development at Kolkata Port and how to trade with Bangladesh through the port can be improved.
Bangladesh has a history of building ships for the past 100 years and the country can further develop the industry. Bangladesh builds ships for European markets, South America, East Africa and to neighbours like India, Pakistan and Dubai. In the next five years, the total market will be about $200 billion and Bangladesh can tap at least $2 billion from it. Demand for new ships is growing in the coastal shipping market which is about 43 per cent. ‘World shipbuilding has seen an unprecedented crisis over the past decade. In 2007 world shipbuilding order was 10,055 units divided across major shipbuilding nations such as South Korea, Japan and Vietnam. Ten years down the line in 2016, the order book has shrunk to 4,851 units,’ informed Tariqul Islam, Executive Director of Ananda Group, Bangladesh. According to him, Bangladesh shipyards can build ships of up to 20,000 DWT. Most of the shipyards are located on the banks of major rivers like Meghna, Karnaphuli. Till 2017, Bangladesh has built about 1684 units of ships of various types and sizes. The current industrial policy has declared shipbuilding as a thrust sector.
Though South Asia holds huge potential, unfortunately, it remains untapped. The challenges can be overcome only by more business and economic integration. A classic example of intra-regional coordination is coastal shipping between Bangladesh and India. Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are also looking at coastal shipping options. Mr Ravi Ramprasad, Editor-In-Chief & Publisher, Maritime Gateway, India highlighted the priorities towards building an efficient and smart supply chain:
• The urgent need to increase port capacities to meet the growing demand for cargo
• Augment port connectivity for seamless and smooth movement of cargo
• Simplifying of customs regulations
• Formulate favourable policies to create ease of doing business
• The mechanisation of cargo handling at ports and terminals
• Deploying digital technologies
Outcome of the 2nd SAMLF
• Several agencies like World Bank and UK Investment Board are planning to deploy funds for maritime infrastructure development in Bangladesh. Private entrepreneurs are equally interested in building infrastructure. This Forum acts as a catalyst to get these investments to materialise.
• As a global export-driven manufacturing economy, Bangladesh has send a positive signal to the investors and existing entrepreneurs that the country is focusing on the most important sector that drives manufacturing exports and trade in general.
• Global retail giants observed the conference as a move in a positive direction, as smart and efficient logistics are tools for competitiveness in today’s market.
• Witnessing focus of government in this sector through the conference, companies in shipping and logistics business will be enthusiastic at the potential of investment opportunities.
• This Forum has facilitated to bring regional synergies and cooperation to increase trade and transport links with South Asia and Asian nations.
• This conference generates ideas, innovations, best practices and new knowledge to the government on future planning and development understanding the gaps.
• The conference has created a positive impact on the local business communities and the general public.
Gaining SAMLF momentum
South Asia has been a late starter, while other regions in the world are doing quite good in maritime connectivity. But with the SAMLF cooperation pledging for a new era among the countries, it is gaining momentum, better late than never. It’s a good time when we recognise the uncharted and untapped opportunities in improving trade and in the way improve lives of the greater people of South Asia. As a maritime nation, we must encourage such endeavours of regional participation and connectivity for our aspiring blue economic growth.
