Export revenue drops by Tk304cr at Akhaura land port

Highlights

• Goods worth Tk376.23cr exported in 2022-23 fiscal year 
• In previous fiscal year, goods export was Tk680cr 
• Smuggling of fresh fish is blamed for the decline in export trade
• Traders lose interest thanks to less opportunity for importing desired goods

Exports of goods through Brahmanbaria's Akhaura land port fell to Tk376.23 crore in the fiscal year 2022-23 thanks to a decline in fish exports - which is Tk304 crore less than from the previous year.

The port's export trade now largely depends on frozen fish. Earlier, 50 to 60 tonnes of fish were exported daily, but now it has been reduced to half, resulting in a significant decline in the overall export income.

However, fish exporters blame the illegal smuggling of fresh fish through the border for the gradual decrease in exports.

Moreover, the import trade of the port is at the bottom as businessmen are losing their interest in import trade due to less opportunity to import their preferred products to meet local demand. So, the port and customs are not getting the revenue as expected. They earned only Tk55.78 lakh in import revenue.

Even five years ago, more than 50 products including frozen fish, stones, MS rods, cement, cotton, edible oil, LP gas, plastic, and dry foods were exported through the port. Currently, only a handful of products including frozen fish, MS rods, cement, and plastic worth about $1 lakh - $1.5 lakh are exported daily (excluding holidays).

Frozen fish shares half of total exports through the port. Mainly Bangladesh exports farmed fish including ruhi, puti, pangas, tilapia, and pabda at a price of $2.50 per kg. For the past few months, fish exports have decreased at an alarming rate.

Md Farooq Mia, general secretary of Akhaura Land Port Fish Exporters Association, said Indian traders are losing interest in frozen fish import as fresh fish is constantly being smuggled through some border points of Akhaura Upazila.

"We informed the matter to the Border Guard Bangladesh, Port Authority, and local administration. If this is not stopped, frozen fish export will stop at any moment," he added.

Meanwhile, the import of goods from India is also now irregular. In the 2022-23 fiscal year, wheat, maize stone, and onion were imported through the port.

According to Akhaura land customs station, goods worth Tk376.23 crore were exported to India and goods worth Tk65.93 crore were imported from India in the last fiscal year. However, in the financial year 2021-22, Bangladesh exported goods worth Tk680.12 crore to India and imported Tk288.41 crore worth of goods.

Traders at the land port said export trade is unlikely to increase in the future as Indian businessmen now collect many goods locally thanks to improved road and rail connectivity in its North-Eastern states. However, the port still has a chance to turn around through import trade.

Therefore, traders urged the government to allow them to import goods depending on local demand.

Forkan Ahmed Khalifa, general secretary of the C&F Agent Association of Akhaura Land Port, said, "We have been demanding approval for the import of all goods, depending on local demand. We wrote to the NBR Chairman for permission to import a list of certain products. But it has not yet been resolved."

"Only through imports, the port's activity may get back a momentum, which will generate a huge amount of revenue," Forkan said.

Md Atiqul Islam, assistant director of Akhaura Land Port, said, "Due to irregular imports through the port, the revenue collection almost halved compared to the previous fiscal. In a bid to increase the imports, we wrote to the higher authorities for approval of the products enlisted by the traders. This issue will hopefully be resolved soon."