Apparel exporters in Bangladesh don’t think sharing seaports with India is a good idea. They feel this will add to congestion. In Bangladesh, it takes about 45 days for execution of an export order, which is 10 to 12 days in China. Due to congestion at the ports, sometimes garment exporters have to ship goods by air, which costs a huge amount of money. Sometimes manufacturers have to offer a discount on price due to delay in shipment.

Bangladesh may allow India to use the Chattogram and Mongla seaports for transporting goods to and from its land-locked Northeastern states. This agreement is effective for five years with a provision of automatic renewal for another five years. But either country could pull out from the deal with a six-month notice.

There is a shortage of required equipment at Bangladesh’s principal port to even handle the current export-import shipment. Bangladesh’s export earnings from the apparel sector in the last fiscal year were up by 8.76 per cent. In the first four months of the current fiscal year, Bangladesh exports earnings saw a sharp rise by over 20 per cent.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s overall export earnings are up by about 5.8 per cent.