Underlining that the recent decision of the port authority for shifting the delivery of import containers to the private inland container depots (ICDs) would be time consuming and costly for the exporters, garment exporters in Bangladesh have called upon the Government to let them take the release of imported raw materials from the Chittagong Port itself instead of the private ICDs.
This was maintained in recent reports, which added the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) on 26 April (Monday) wrote a letter to the State Minister for shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury in this direction.
The letter signed by the BKMEA First Vice-President Mohammad Hatem while underlining that the additional cost and lengthy process of import delivery in the ICDs would hurt the competitiveness of the apparel sector on the global market amidst the coronavirus outbreak, added that the export-import activities of the garment sector have been taking place through the Chittagong Port and further stating that the release of import containers takes place through the port even as in the case of export, they make their shipment through private ICDs.