Joining the long-standing demand of the country’s garment manufacturers to boost up infrastructure to ensure hassle-free and timely export of apparel items, the country’s apex industry body, the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) has reportedly called upon the government to improve services at Chittagong Port, to boost trade and commerce.
As per media reports, speaking at at FBCCI board room meeting pertaining to Shipping Ministry (Maritime Port), Chairman of the FBCCI Standing Committee Dr. M Pervez Shazzad Akter reportedly urged the Government to upgrade the toll road into six lanes for smooth transportation of the containers.
Speakers at the said meeting reportedly also praised the government initiatives to improve the container congestion situation at the port, while requesting the concerned authorities to dedicate a particular portion of the bay terminal to containers.
It may be mentioned here that last year the port authorities and the government had come in for severe criticism after thousands of containers got stuck at Chittagong Port, following lack of manpower, causing severe congestion and affecting container handling and dispatch activities, which impacted business severely. During this period, most of the vessels reportedly were forced to overstay for 7-10 days as against the normal turnaround time of 2-3 days.
Chittagong is the main port of the country, which reportedly handles almost 90 per cent of Bangladesh’s imports and exports.
