Dhaka-Kathmandu commerce secretary-level meet prepare final draft of transit; Next meeting at Kathmandu in Feb

By AKM Moinuddin

Dhaka, Jul 15 (UNB) – After two days of talks ending Thursday, Commerce secretaries of Bangladesh and Nepal prepared the final draft on the modalities of transit for transport of trade cargoes between the two countries allowing trucks from Nepal without any fees.
The final draft that allows trucks from Nepal into Bangladesh territory may get formal approval from the top government authorities before February next year paving the way for the implementation of the much-anticipated transport connectivity,” Commerce Secretary M Golam Hossain said after the talks at a joint press conference at the Secretariat.
“We’ll soon place it (final draft) before the highest level of the government for vetting and formal approval,” he said.
Bangladesh commerce secretary said the next secretary-level meeting would be held in Kathmandu in February next year for further discussion on other unresolved issues.
“We’ve finalized the route of transit from Banglabandh to Mongla for the trucks coming from Nepal. The route is Banglabandh-Panchagarh-Thakurgaon-Syedpur-Rangpur-Bogra-Natore-Dashuria-Paksey-Kushtia-Jessore-Khulna-Mongla port,” he said in reply to a question.
Replying to another question, Golam Hossain said: “It could have been an income if Bangladesh gets fees from for each truck’s entry into our territory, but we’ll benefit by other fees like carrying charges.”
He said Bangladesh could not fully utilize the facilities of Monga port. “If we allow our friends to utilize the facilities, we’ll be benefited… in trading one party might get a little more benefit and the other party little less, but to get something is better than nothing.”
The commerce secretary told another questioner that the pressure on the roads would not be much, as you know Nepal is a small country and its export-import volume is also small in size.
He said they could not reach a decision on duty-free access of goods for the markets of both countries but both sides tabled a list of own products for further consideration.
“In the meeting, Bangladesh placed a list of 184 products while Nepal mentioned 146 products for duty-free access to each other’s markets. We’ve directed the joint-secretary level body to finalize the list and place its recommendations to the next secretary-level meeting,” Golam Hossain said.
Nepalese commerce secretary Purushottam Ojha said though the transit agreement was signed in 1976, quite a long time back, still it has remained unimplemented. Transport connectivity was one of the bottlenecks.
“Once we’ve transport connectivity it’ll help create opportunities for increasing the bilateral trade, investment, tourism, and people-to-people contact,” he said.
During the talks, Bangladesh also focused on export of pharmaceuticals to Nepal, railway connectivity, Dhaka-Kathmandu bus service, on arrival visa for the Nepalese and simplification of visa procedures for the Bangladeshis.
The secretary-level talks began on Wednesday after nearly three years. Bangladesh commerce secretary led a 15-member team while his Nepalese counterpart Purushottam Ojha led a six-member delegation at the talks.
Bangladesh team included representatives from the ministries of foreign affairs, industries, shipping, communication, and power, Board of Investment, National Board of Revenue, Export Promotion Bureau, Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority, and the Tariff Commission.
Transit agreement between Bangladesh and Nepal was signed on April 2 in 1976. The agreement, which did not incorporate any provision for using the territory and ports and routes for entry and exit of Nepalese vehicles, made it almost non-functional.
END/UNB/AMK