Written by The Banking Post
Bangladesh should move quickly to implement the National Logistics Policy (NLP) 2025 to protect its competitiveness as it prepares to graduate from the least-developed country (LDC) category, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has said.
The Manila-based lender has offered a $200 million policy-based lending programme to support the policy’s implementation and related reforms, according to officials familiar with the matter.
An ADB mission recently held discussions with officials of the Finance Division and Economic Relations Division (ERD) in Dhaka on the proposed programme.
Bangladesh’s graduation from the LDC group will gradually remove several trade preferences and other benefits it currently enjoys, putting greater pressure on the country to reduce its high logistics costs and improve the efficiency of exports and imports.
Against this backdrop, the government has taken up a programme to strengthen competitiveness through better logistics and economic-corridor development, with ADB support.
The proposed lending programme will focus on policy reforms in logistics and trade facilitation, with the broader goals of improving economic competitiveness, diversifying exports and building a modern, efficient and WTO-compliant trade and logistics ecosystem.
A major focus will be strengthening the institutional framework for logistics development and improving coordination among government agencies. The programme will support a comprehensive logistics implementation framework and action plan, stronger governance arrangements and a logistics-services quality-assurance system.
It will also establish a Logistics Data Governance and Interoperability Framework to improve coordination and enable evidence-based decision-making across the sector.
The programme is also expected to modernise trade-facilitation systems and update the regulatory framework. Proposed measures include legislation aligned with the UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Transferable Records (MLETR), customs-modernisation guidelines focused on digitisation and risk management, stronger border-coordination mechanisms, and specialised training for customs officials and trade negotiators.
Private-sector participation will be another key pillar. The programme will support a national strategy to attract foreign direct investment into logistics assets, develop public-private partnership frameworks for logistics infrastructure and expand logistics-related skills programmes in collaboration with industry.
It will also encourage a logistics start-up and innovation ecosystem and seek to remove barriers to foreign participation in the sector.
The reforms are ultimately aimed at making Bangladesh’s logistics system more efficient and competitive while creating stronger conditions for private investment and export diversification as the country moves beyond the LDC framework.
