A 10-point roadmap for Bangladesh's logistics transformation
With a fresh public mandate in hand, the new administration enters office at a pivotal moment, ready to convert the prime minister’s pre-election pledges into a concrete roadmap for economic transformation. Among the many priorities demanding attention, logistics reform stands out as a foundational lever—capable of accelerating trade competitiveness, stabilising markets, attracting investment, and strengthening national resilience.
Bangladesh has invested significantly in physical infrastructure over the past decade. Yet infrastructure without governance coherence, regulatory modernisation, and digital integration cannot deliver competitiveness. Logistics today is not a single-sector concern; it is an interconnected ecosystem involving more than 20 agencies under different ministries. Without unified institutional authority and coordinated implementation, systemic efficiency will remain constrained. If the government seeks a time-bound fast-track reform agenda, logistics offers one of the highest-impact starting points.
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First, establish a statutory national logistics commission under the Prime Minister’s Office with a full legal mandate to implement the National Logistics Policy 2025. The commission must function as the apex body for arbitration, dispute settlement, grievance redress, tariff oversight, performance monitoring, and multimodal coordination. It should serve not merely as an advisory entity but as a regulatory commission with enforcement authority.
Second, vest the standardisation and licensing authority for all logistics service providers under the commission. Seaports, terminals, inland container depots, off-docks, freight forwarders, trucking operators, rail freight operators, warehouse operators, air freight stations, and multimodal operators should operate under harmonised national standards. Fragmented licensing regimes create uneven compliance and operational inefficiencies. Regulatory coherence is essential for building trust and accountability.
Third, launch a nationwide, interoperable, blockchain-enabled port community system as the digital twin of the commission. This platform must integrate all seaports, inland ports, river terminals, off-docks, Bangladesh Railway, the National Board of Revenue (NBR), Bangladesh Bank and commercial banks, airlines, freight forwarders, and transport operators through secure API-triggered data exchange. Blockchain architecture can eliminate interagency trust deficits by creating tamper-proof documentation and transaction trails. Real-time cargo visibility, electronic bills of lading, automated customs clearance, and digital payment integration will reduce dwell time, eliminate duplication, and curb discretionary practices. Governance reform without digital integration will remain incomplete.
Fourth, operationalise direct mother vessel services from Matarbari Deep Sea Port. The deep-sea port represents a generational opportunity to reduce transhipment dependency, shorten lead times, and integrate Bangladesh into primary global shipping routes. Competitive tariff frameworks, coordinated hinterland connectivity, and proactive engagement with global carrier alliances must be prioritised. Direct services will enhance export competitiveness and strengthen Bangladesh’s maritime standing.
Fifth, amend the Railway Act to open national rail tracks to licensed private freight operators under regulated track-access charges. The persistent crisis of locomotive shortages and limited loco-master capacity within Bangladesh Railway cannot be resolved solely through public recruitment or procurement. A network-access model—where the state owns the infrastructure but permits regulated private freight operations—would unlock private capital, modern rolling stock, and service efficiency. Rail liberalisation will also reduce road congestion, lower fuel imports, and promote environmental sustainability.
Sixth, develop rail-based Inland Container Depots (ICDs) either in Pubail or Dhirasram to serve the greater Dhaka industrial belt, and another in Nilphamari to connect Uttara Export Processing Zones (EPZ) efficiently to seaports. Container consolidation must shift away from congested urban corridors towards rail-linked hubs. Dedicated ICDs will decentralise cargo flows, enhance multimodal integration, and significantly reduce logistics costs.
Seventh, enact a competition-based legal framework for appointing global terminal operators at entities such as Chittagong Port Authority. Transparent international bidding, performance-based concessions, and anti-monopoly safeguards are essential to prevent concentration of private market power. Privatisation without regulatory discipline risks replacing public inefficiency with private dominance. Structured competition ensures both productivity and public interest.
Eighth, introduce comprehensive trucking sector legislation. Road freight carries the majority of domestic cargo, yet regulatory fragmentation persists. Modern laws should define licencing requirements, fleet standards, digital consignment documentation, safety compliance, tariff transparency, and enforcement against cartelisation. Predictable regulation will protect legitimate operators and cargo owners alike while improving efficiency across supply chains.
Ninth, move cargo beyond the airport fence by delivering licensed Air Freight Stations (AFS) through credible public-private partnership models. Despite modernisation at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, cargo congestion within the airport perimeter constrains throughput. Under a decentralised AFS model, cargo consolidation, palletisation, screening, and documentation would occur off-airport, digitally linked to customs, airlines, and banks through the national port community system. Only sealed and pre-cleared shipments would enter the airside terminal. This reform would reduce dwell time, enhance airline confidence, and strengthen Bangladesh’s competitiveness in time-sensitive exports.
Tenth, empower the national logistics commission as a circulation authority to regulate lighter vessels, barges, and floating warehouses operating in inland and coastal waterways. Unregulated floating storage and speculative holding practices can distort supply-demand balance and create artificial market volatility. Oversight of cargo circulation is therefore not merely an operational issue but a matter of economic stability. Transparent monitoring mechanisms under the national logistics commission will ensure that logistics practices do not contribute to price distortions.
Taken together, these ten priorities form an integrated fast-track reform agenda. The establishment of a powerful national logistics commission ensures governance coherence. The blockchain-enabled port community system delivers digital transparency. Direct deep-sea connectivity, rail liberalisation, ICD development, and structured port competition expand capacity and efficiency. Trucking reform and air cargo decentralisation modernise operational flows and circulation oversight safeguards market stability.
Infrastructure builds physical capacity, but governance builds credibility. Digital systems build transparency, while competition builds efficiency. Without institutional reform, even world-class infrastructure cannot deliver world-class logistics performance.
The opportunity now is not an incremental adjustment, but a structural transformation. Logistics reform offers the government a chance to translate its pre-election plan into visible, measurable execution—swiftly and decisively.
Ahamedul Karim Chowdhury is adjunct faculty at Bangladesh Maritime University and former head of inland container depot at Kamalapur and Pangaon Inland Container Terminal under the Chittagong Port Authority.
Views expressed in this article are the author's own.
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