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Govt targets to reduce time of import, export


Bangladeshpost
Published : 20 Oct 2019 07:43 PM | Updated : 01 Sep 2020 08:17 AM

The government has targeted to reduce the time of import to two days and export to one day by 2022.

Currently, it takes eight days for releasing import goods while export goods need five days through different customs ports, reports BSS.

The Project Director of NSW, Khondaker Mohammad Aminur Rahman, who is member (customs audit and international trade) of NBR, vowed this on Sunday at a visioning workshop.

International Finance Corporation (IFC) organised the programme at a hotel in Habiganj.

The target is expected to be implemented under the National Single Window (NSW) project. Some 39 agencies, both public and private, would be interconnected with the integrated portal to deliver speedy services to the exporters and importers.

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) is implementing the project with the support of Bangladesh Investment Climate Fund (BICF II). BICF II is implemented by IFC and funded by DFID. It is providing technical assistance for technical and functional specifications, visioning exercise, NSW memorandum of understanding and legal provisions.

According to the NBR, a total of 3,19,000 importers and exporters are expected to be benefited from reduced time and cost for trade once the system becomes operational.

NBR member Rahman said Bangladesh would be considered as lucrative destination for investors if cost and time of doing business can be reduced.

“We have found results of time release study (TRS) on customs port is not satisfactory. If such situation continues, Bangladesh will lose the competitiveness,” he added.

The project will appoint performance quality assurance team soon, he added.

The NBR member also expected that the NSW would come into full-fledged operation within two and a half years.

The government has a plan to bring down the indicators of ease of doing business to two digits.

“Relevant laws will be framed so that other entities can deliver their respective services to the NSW,” he added.

While connecting through video conference, NBR chairman Md Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan said that all of the trade portals would be interconnected through the NSW.

“A guideline will be prepared to implement the NSW. A trader can use it as a single platform,” he said.

The NBR Chairman also instructed the project officials that the project should be completed within the stipulated time.

The NSW project with the estimated cost of US$ 74.1 million was scheduled to be expired on December 2020. However, the project will be extended for slow progress until 2022.

NBR member (VAT audit and intelligence) Masud Sadiq said that the major objectives of the project were to reduce the cost and time of businesses, expedite it and thus removing the complexities.

IFC private sector specialist Nusrat Nahid Babi also spoke at the workshop. The NBR signed MOU with the 39 private and public agencies on August 2018.

Through the NSW, all services related to export and import will be provided from an electronic and online platform.

It is a facility that allows parties involved in trade and transport to lodge standardised information and documents with a single entry point to fulfill all import, export and transit-related regulatory requirements.