Dwaipayan Barua

Russia and Ukraine-bound exports, especially garments, are now faced with an uncertain future as shipping lines are understandably not too eager to carry goods to war zones.

Twenty-eight Bangladeshi sailors were evacuated from the Banglar Samriddhi yesterday and taken to a safe shelter in Ukraine.

Development spending in Bangladesh rose 17 per cent year-on-year in the first seven months of the current fiscal year, highlighting the momentum in the economic recovery from the pandemic-induced slowdown.

Global ports and terminal operator APM Terminals, a subsidiary of Danish shipping company AP Moller Maersk, has expressed interest in developing and operating the under-construction Patenga Container Terminal of the Chattogram port.

The prospect of direct container shipping from Chittagong Port to European destinations is widening as at least four more countries have expressed interest in directly transporting goods by sea from Chattogram to Europe.

Shipping lines in Bangladesh have expressed concern over some provisions in the recently published policy for private inland container depots (ICDs), citing that certain measures may cause adversities in running operations.

Singer has been operating in Bangladesh for 117 years and is growing at a healthy pace. Currently, the company is putting emphasis on brick-and-mortar sales as well as fast-expanding digital commerce in order to serve the current generations. Singer Bangladesh Ltd Managing Director & Chief Executive MHM Fairoz shares his company’s plans on investment, expansion and digital customers during an interview with The Daily Star recently.  

A direct waterborne service has been introduced between the Chattogram port and an Italian port, paving the way for opening up prospects for faster and cheaper direct container shipping from Bangladesh to Europe.

Bangladesh’s external debt repayment has increased gradually in recent times aided by an inflow of a huge amount of foreign loans from multilateral and bilateral partners in the forms of project aid and budget support.

Jazeera Airways plans to keep expanding its footprint in Bangladesh, particularly in its second-largest city of Chattogram, as it targets to serve a huge number of expatriates from the region currently living and working in Kuwait.

Though overall annual development programme (ADP) implementation slightly rose year-on-year in the current fiscal year’s first half, government spending for development projects is still below that of the pre-pandemic period.

No vessel, be it domestic or foreign, fell victim to theft or piracy within Bangladesh’s territorial waters according to published recently reports of two international organisations which disseminate related information.

An intense competition is ongoing among private inland container depots (ICDs) to see who can handle the most import and export cargoes, which is helping ease congestion at Chittagong Port by facilitating the quick clearance of shipments.

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has formulated the country’s first-ever comprehensive policy for private inland container depots (ICDs) in order to facilitate their operations and expand Bangladesh’s foreign trade.

Bangladesh’s premier seaport in Chattogram handled record number of containers in 2021 and also posted over 13 per cent year-on-year growth in container handling.

Chittagong port handled 31.15 lakh twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of containers so far this year, the highest since it began dealing with containers in 1977, as the economy of Bangladesh is returning to normalcy at a faster clip. 

With the much-talked about Padma bridge project nearing completion as only 11 per cent of the construction work remains, the authorities concerned hope to complete the project within the deadline by June next year.

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) yesterday approved 10 development projects, half of which were revisions.

The government is set to extend the duration and budget for constructing 560 model mosques-cum-Islamic cultural centres all over the country for the second time by another three years.

Bangladesh now has a fleet of 80 oceangoing vessels, a record high since the country’s independence.