Dhaka, Kathmandu put transit deal on course

Bangladesh and Nepal finalise modalities
Bangladesh and Nepal have finalised the modalities of putting a decades-old transit agreement into operation.
The governments have to ratify the modalities to allow Nepal to use Bangladesh’s Mongla Port, which is more convenient for the South Asian neighbour than the Kolkata Port it uses now for shipments.
Nepal will not have to pay any entry or transit fee for the facilities in line with the agreement of 1976.
But Bangladesh will receive other fees and charges, including carrying costs, port charges and labour wages.
The transit route for Nepalese cargo will meander through Banglabandh-Panchagarh-Thakurgaon-Syedpur-Rangpur-Bogra-Natore-Dhashuria-Pakshi-Kushtia-Jhenidah-Jessore-Khulna-Mongla.
The latest development came at a meeting of the commerce secretaries of both countries at the commerce ministry in Dhaka.
Commerce Secretary Md Ghulam Hussain and his Nepalese counterpart Purushottam Ojha led their delegations to the two-day talks that concluded yesterday. The last such meeting between the two was held in 2007.
Other major issues discussed at the meeting were tariff references, the Dhaka-Kathmandu bus service, harmonisation of the sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade and on-arrival visa for the Nepalese.
Leaders of the negotiation teams briefed journalists on the meeting developments.
“It is a goodwill gesture of Bangladesh to one of its tested friends (Nepal),” Hussain said, on allowing Nepal a fee-less transit facility. “Nepal was a true friend to us during the liberation war. It is also a landlocked poor country.”
“The 1976 transit agreement with Nepal doesn’t allow Bangladesh to charge fees.”
But Bangladesh will get all other fees and charges that it is entitled to, he added.
In response to a query, Hussain said Nepal would not invest in developing the road infrastructure it will use in Bangladesh.
On whether or not Bangladeshi trucks could enter Nepal, the secretary said Bangladesh and India will have to agree on separate modalities as the trucks have to pass through the Indian territory.
Ojha said the move would help reduce transportation costs of exports and imports.
“It will also help the region become economically integrated.”
Other issues, such as driving licences for Nepalese trucks and sealing of goods, will be finalised before February next, when the commerce secretaries would sit in Kathmandu.
Bangladesh asked Nepal to import more from Bangladesh to reduce the trade gap that favours Nepal.
“Tariff reduction is the best way to increase business between the countries,” Hussain said, adding that they have placed a list of 184 products to Nepal for duty reduction against 146 by Nepal.
A joint secretary-level meeting between the two countries would settle the tariff issues by December, he said.
On Nepal’s demands to build cold storages on Bangladesh’s side to preserve perishable goods, Hussain said it is not feasible as Nepal is exporting, and not Bangladesh.
Launching direct bus services between the capitals has not been finalised yet, he said.
Both sides have agreed to promote tourism between them.
Nepal’s exports and imports were nearly $1 billion and $4.5 billion last year. Bangladesh’s export to Nepal was $8 million, against imports of nearly $70 million last year.

Courtesy of The Daily Star