trade facilitation in bangladesh

8/11/2019 Trade Facilitation in Bangladesh

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Sub: South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation

(SASEC)

Trade Facilitation Week, Thailand

Venue: InterContinental Bangkok Hotel, Thailand

Date:

March 25-28, 2013

Md. Sabur Khan

President

Dhaka Chamber of Commerce Industry


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Snapshots

Introduction of DCCI

Bangladesh Economy at a glance

Introduction of SASEC

Benefits of Trade Facilitation Trade Facilitation Bottlenecks-Experiences

Trade Facilitation initiatives in Bangladesh

DCCI-the lead private sectors initiatives for

TF DCCI Customs House Automation-a Case

Way Forward


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DCCI- A prime and most active Chamber

Established in 1958 the first point of contact for

business as the first ISO Certified Chamber

Largest Chamber in the country works as one of the

important economic watchdogs

Represents largely in the SME sector

14,000 members (Approx.), Multi sectoral business

constituencies

Contributed largely for Private sector-led growth

More than five decades of services to the private sector

achieved several successes & recognition both at home

and abroad


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GDP at current price US $116 billion, 6.32% growthrate

GDP Composition: Industrial Sector 31.26 percent

Agriculture 19.29 percent

Service Sector 49.45 percent

Exports US $ 24.28 bn, Imports US$ 35.51 bn

Remittance US $ 12.84 bn(increasing gradually)

Foreign Exchange Reserve US$ 10.36 bn

FDI Inflow US$ 1.13 bn

Government Revenue US$16.62 bn

Gross Investment is 25.45% of GDP

Present Status of Bangladesh Economy(2011-12)


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SASEC

South Asia Sub-Regional Economic Cooperation

(SASEC) was set up in 2001 as an initiative of

Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Nepal.

Aims to promote domestic and regional prosperity

through stronger transport links and increased

trade and cooperation across sectors ranging from

energy, tourism, the private sector and the

environment


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TradeFacilitation and SASEC

Trade Facilitation can help to achieve higher growth

and economic development in SASEC countries

Trade Facilitation, can create possibility to go for

more industrialization by expediting the movement,

release & clearance of goods including goods

including transit.

It is of course true that Trade alone can not create

employment if it is not supported by the Domestic

Policies.


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BenefitsofTradeFacilitation

TF not only help in having monetary gains,but increasing transparency, reducing cost ofdoing business & increasing businessopportunity

It amplified customer value & improvedsecurity and increased revenue

SMEs in relation to larger companies arebenefitted and can grow more efficiently


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Key elementsof Trade Facilitation

It is imperative that four key elements arepresent for a successful trade facilitationprocess:

A strong political will;A clear strategic plan;

A close co-operation with the business community;

A well-funded and long-term technical assistance

program based on a partnership between donorand recipient.


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Trade Discouraging NTBs faced by Business

Processing or clearance delays at borders or ports

Lack of transit and transport agreement Compliance with sanitary and phyto-sanitary (SPS)

standards

Technical barriers to trade (TBT)

Weak logistics systems

Poor infrastructure

High administrative fees, storage and handlingcosts

Limited IT usage

Lack of accreditation facilities

Excessive documentation Lack of cooperation and coordination among trade

supporting organizations


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Possible NTBs in Trade in Services

Thresholds on the total value of service transaction

Restrictions on the number of service operations

Limits on the number of natural persons to beemployed in case of supply for a particular service

Measures which force a service supplier to supply aservice through a particular set of legal means

Limits on the percentage share of foreign investmentwhich may be accounted for by foreign shareholders


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Trade Facilitation Bottlenecks.. Limited information about overseas markets and

marketing consumers goods

Additional market entry barriers

Lack of attention behind and between borders

Absence of comprehensive Aid for Trade Agenda Barriers to the international markets of goods and

procedures at and around the borders

Skilled human resources and technology

Cost of trading remains high-prevents potentialexporters competing in the global and regionalmarkets


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Trade Facilitation Bottlenecks Compliant with the TF Measures is almost impossible

for an LDC country like Bangladesh

Among the 39 Measures some of the provisions havepartially been addressed but some provisions are verydifficult to implement, such as; Detention, TestProcedures, Pre arrival processing, Establish andpublication of average release time, Border agencycooperation, Use of international standards , Singlewindow, Customs cooperation etc etc which will need

more time. Issues of Advance Ruling, Risk management issues

also are similarly important and will require time


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TF Bottlenecks contdAs an LDC Bangladesh has already identified

their Trade Facilitation Needs and Priorities andis trying to address these issues while the costimplications of these proposed measures is huge

Bangladesh needs to identify what type ofTechnical Assistance and support for CapacityBuilding is required to be compliant with thesemeasures

LDCs are already suffering for infrastructuralbottlenecks, Bangladesh is not an exception


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Trade Facilitation Initiatives

Bangladesh has already pursuing liberalizedtrading regime

Customs procedures have been simplified &modernized substantially.

Infrastructure & facilities at different customspoints, different sea & land ports have beenimproved.

Ministries have their own websites

ASUCUDA ++ is also in place, ASUCUDAWorld in in process

Chittagong Port is under several reforms.


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Cont... Full Automation of Chittagong Customs

House & Automation of Dhaka CustomsHouse

PSI has reduced physical inspection ofconsignments, from 100% in 1999 to around10% now.

Number of pre-clearance signatures hasgone down to 5 from 25, & export clearancetime for 95% of consignments has beenreduced from 72 hours in 1999 to 3 hours

now Appointed Tax Ombudsman to facilitate

good governance in Tax & Tariff measures.


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Cont...

New-mooring Container Terminal (NCT) atChittagong Port is under construction.

It will ease the current vessel and container

congestion a lot Government and Private sector is working

very closely


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Initiatives for TF by DCCI

Dhaka Custom House Automation Training through DCCI Business Institute Establishment of a Public-Private Dialogue called

Business Initiative Leading Development (BUILD) Close interaction with government agencies

(Bangladesh Tariff Commission, NBR, EPB, Ministry ofCommerce etc.) which are working for tradefacilitation

B2B Matchmaking activities Issuance of Certificate of Origin (CO) Policy Advocacy and Reforms Initiatives through different projects DCCI Help Desk Many more....


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A TF case of DCCI under PPP-DCHA

DCCI in partnership with National Board of Revenue(NBR) has been implementing the project on Dhaka

Customs House Automation (DCHA) under Public

Private Partnership (PPP) model with a view to

reduce cost of doing business, reduce bureaucratic tangles,

reduce cumbersome process of paying taxes,

create a hassle free business environment and

increasing revenue by ensuring transparency andaccountability.


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Contd..DCHA Benefits

Improved efficiency, save time for each stakeholder,improve productivity, accountability and compliant to WCOdefinition by introducing world class IT infrastructure

Reduced cost of doing business by at least 70%

Saved customs processing time by 80%

Cutting down the customs procedures to 6 steps in theplace of existing 31

Monitoring international and domestic price

Transparency and level playing field ensured

Minimized risk & ensured better service delivery of thecustom department


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Forward

Harmonization of trade documents

Adoption of the HS nomenclature and use ofinternationally agreed standard data elements

Online publication of relevant trade regulations andprocedures, including fees and charges, in the local

language and in English Establishment of a national trade facilitation committee,

Establishment of enquiry points and single national focalpoints for trade regulations and other trade facilitation

issues, and An effective appeal procedure for Customs and other

agencies rulings.


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DCCI is looking for

support

Help Desk in the Chamber withconnectivity of all relevant tradesupporting organization

Integration with the NationalInformation Centre

Full operation of DCHA


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trade facilitation in bangladesh

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