Cabinet okays Bhutan's use of land and sea ports

Cabinet meeting held on Monday with PM Sheikh Hasina in the chair.

Dhaka, Mar 13 - The cabinet has permitted neighboring country Bhutan to use Bangladesh’s land and sea ports for the country’s import and export on Monday.

The approval came from a cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her office today.

“Bhutan is a landlocked country. They have no river or sea port of their own for import-export. Therefore, they get similar opportunities from India also. Now they are getting an opportunity to use Bangladesh’s land and ports”, said Cabinet Secretary Mahbub Hossain after the meeting at the Secretariat.

Mentioning that Bhutan can use Bangladesh’s land and ports for import-export under this agreement, the secretary said, “After signing, this agreement will be sent to the National Board of Revenue (NBR) now. Then NBR will decide the rate of revenue for them (Bhutanese vehicles).”

“After finalising everything, the agreement will be signed,” he added.

At present, Bangladesh has a transit agreement with India which permits the neighboring country to use some sea ports and roads of Bangladesh. - UNB