Govt forms five working groups to implement National Logistics Policy

The government on Monday formed five specialised working groups to implement the National Logistics Policy 2025 and strengthen Bangladesh’s capacity for domestic and international trade.

The working groups will focus on logistics digitalisation, investment, skills development, multimodal logistics infrastructure and trade facilitation, according to notifications issued by the Prime Minister’s Office by the end of last week.

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The panels have been formed in line with decisions of the National Logistics Development and Coordination Committee (NLDCC).

The interim government framed the National Logistics Policy 2025, aiming to position Bangladesh as a leading regional trade and logistics hub by 2050, after annulling the previous policy formulated in April 2024 by the ousted Awami League-led government.

Of the groups, the trade facilitation working group will be headed by the commerce secretary.

It is mandated to formulate time-bound action plans to reduce the time, operational costs and procedures involved in imports and exports, customs clearance, cargo release, and port and border management under the policy.

The group will also review progress under the World Trade Organization Trade Facilitation Agreement (WTO-TFA) and propose frameworks for pre-arrival processing, electronic declarations, automated clearance, risk management, green channels, Authorised Economic Operators and post-clearance audits, according to the notification.

Headed by the secretary of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Division, the logistics digitalisation working group will prepare a roadmap for real-time tracking and tracing of goods, containers and vehicles from source to destination. It will also integrate digital systems across customs, ports, transport, warehousing, tax and banking, and define verification metrics for a National Logistics Dashboard.

The investment working group, led by an executive member of Invest Bangladesh, will identify foreign and local investment potential in the sector and impediments to investment.

The logistics infrastructure working group will formulate short-, medium- and long-term action plans for physical infrastructure development.

The panel, led by the member for physical infrastructure at the Planning Commission, will also identify bottlenecks across transport modes, ports, inland container depots, container freight stations and logistics hubs.

It will also evaluate and prioritise public-private partnership projects in the logistics sector.

The skills development working group has been tasked with identifying skill gaps and assessing human resource requirements across the logistics sector.