Kolkata, Jul 12 (PTI) Eyeing the use of eastern Indian ports to export its goods, a delegation from Bangladesh visited the facility in Kolkata to explore new trade opportunities that would reduce cost and time, officials said on Friday.
Led by S M Mostafa Kamal, Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Shipping of the neighbouring country, the 13-member delegation comprising representatives from key ministries, private stakeholders and ports of Bangladesh visited the Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port (SMP) here between July 9 and 12.
The delegation also visited other east coast ports such as Chennai in Tamil Nadu, Visakhapatnam and Krishnapatnam ports in Andhra Pradesh, for their evaluation, the officials said.
The visit aimed at assessing the potential for Bangladesh’s export cargo to be transshipped through SMP, Kolkata, to third countries, leveraging India’s strategic location and infrastructure.
Analysts noted that Bangladesh’s Chittagong port remains extremely congested, and Dhaka wants to explore opportunities using Indian ports using the existing four Indo-Bangladesh protocol routes via waterways to decongest its ports.
The delegation met top officials from SMP, Kolkata, and other stakeholders, discussing the advantages of using Indian ports for transshipment, including the ease of availability of empty containers, lesser transit time compared to other major ports in Eastern India, dedicated vessels for Bangladesh-India routes, and optimization of operational costs, the officials said.
“A cost comparative analysis revealed that shipping export cargo from Chittagong to SMP would be more economical for further shipping to other third countries instead of transshipping through ports like Colombo. Two-way vessel movement will reduce overall transportation costs, enabling a win-win trade proposition for both nations,” SMP Deputy Chairman (Kolkata) Samrat Rahi said.
SMP Chairman Rathendra Raman, Deputy Chairman of Haldia Docks A K Mehra, and senior officials from the Inland Waterways Authority of India were also present at the meeting.
SMP highlighted future development plans, including direct voyages between SMP, Kolkata, and China, vessel movement between SMP, Kolkata, Chittagong, and Yangon port, introduction of a Night-Navigation System, and extended allied service facilities at SMP, Kolkata.
The delegation’s visit was a follow-up to the India-Bangladesh Shipping Secretaries Level Talks (SSLT) held in Dhaka in December 2023. The visit concluded with optimism from both sides, and the Bangladeshi delegation assured that a report would be submitted to the Ministry of Shipping, Bangladesh, and communicated to India through diplomatic channels.
This development is expected to strengthen Indo-Bangladesh bilateral trade relations, boost export-import trade, and pave the way for a new era in maritime connectivity between the two nations. PTI BSM NN
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