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
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 sector’s initiatives for
TF
 DCCI Customs House Automation-a Case
 Way Forward
DCCI- A prime and most active Chamber
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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
constituencies
(Approx.),
Multi
sectoral
business
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
Present Status of Bangladesh Economy
(2011-12)
 GDP
at current price US $116 billion, 6.32% growth
rate
 GDP Composition:
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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
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
Trade Facilitation 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.
Benefits of Trade Facilitation
 TF not only help in having monetary gains,
but increasing transparency, reducing cost of
doing business
& increasing business
opportunity
 It
amplified customer value
security and increased revenue
&
improved
 SMEs in relation to larger companies are
benefitted and can grow more efficiently
Key elements of Trade Facilitation
It is imperative that four key elements are
present for a successful trade facilitation
process:
 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 donor
and recipient.
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)
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standards
Technical barriers to trade (TBT)
Weak logistics systems
Poor infrastructure
High administrative fees, storage and handling
costs
Limited IT usage
Lack of accreditation facilities
Excessive documentation
Lack of cooperation and coordination among trade
supporting organizations
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 be
employed in case of supply for a particular service
 Measures which force a service supplier to supply a
service through a particular set of legal means
 Limits on the percentage share of foreign investment
which may be accounted for by foreign shareholders
Trade Facilitation Bottlenecks..
 Limited information about overseas markets and
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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 potential
exporters competing in the global and regional
markets
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 have
partially been addressed but some provisions are very
difficult to implement, such as; Detention, Test
Procedures, Pre arrival processing, Establish and
publication of average release time, Border agency
cooperation, Use of international standards , Single
window, Customs cooperation etc etc which will need
more time.
 Issues of Advance Ruling, Risk management issues
also are similarly important and will require time
TF Bottlenecks contd…
 As an LDC Bangladesh has already identified
their Trade Facilitation Needs and Priorities and
is trying to address these issues while the cost
implications of these proposed measures is huge
 Bangladesh needs to identify what type of
Technical Assistance and support for Capacity
Building is required to be compliant with these
measures
 LDCs are already suffering for infrastructural
bottlenecks, Bangladesh is not an exception
Trade Facilitation Initiatives
 Bangladesh has already pursuing liberalized
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trading regime
Customs procedures have been simplified &
modernized substantially.
Infrastructure & facilities at different customs
points, different sea & land ports have been
improved.
Ministries have their own websites
ASUCUDA ++ is also in place, ASUCUDA
World in in process
Chittagong Port is under several reforms.
Cont...
 Full Automation of Chittagong Customs
House & Automation of Dhaka Customs
House
 PSI has reduced physical inspection of
consignments, from 100% in 1999 to around
10% now.
 Number of pre-clearance signatures has
gone down to 5 from 25, & export clearance
time for 95% of consignments has been
reduced from 72 hours in 1999 to 3 hours
now
 Appointed Tax Ombudsman to facilitate
good governance in Tax & Tariff measures.
Cont...
 New-mooring Container Terminal (NCT) at
Chittagong Port is under construction.
 It will ease the current vessel and container
congestion a lot
 Government and Private sector is working
very closely
Initiatives for TF by DCCI
 Dhaka Custom House Automation
 Training through DCCI Business Institute
 Establishment of a Public-Private Dialogue called
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Business Initiative Leading Development (BUILD)
Close interaction with government agencies
(Bangladesh Tariff Commission, NBR, EPB, Ministry of
Commerce etc.) which are working for trade
facilitation
B2B Matchmaking activities
Issuance of Certificate of Origin (CO)
Policy Advocacy and Reforms
Initiatives through different projects
DCCI Help Desk
Many more....
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 and
accountability.
Contd..DCHA Benefits
 Improved efficiency, save time for each stakeholder,
improve productivity, accountability and compliant to WCO
definition 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 the
place of existing 31
 Monitoring international and domestic price
 Transparency and level playing field ensured
 Minimized risk & ensured better service delivery of the
custom department
The Way Forward
 Harmonization of trade documents
 Adoption of the HS nomenclature and use of
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internationally agreed standard data elements
Online publication of relevant trade regulations and
procedures, 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 focal
points for trade regulations and other trade facilitation
issues, and
An effective appeal procedure for Customs and other
agencies rulings.
DCCI is looking for support
 Help Desk in the Chamber with
connectivity of all relevant trade
supporting organization
 Integration with the National
Information Centre
 Full operation of DCHA