Costal Shipping Agreement between Bangladesh-SL to be inked soon

Monday, 8 October 2018 00:00 -     - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

  • Agreement will permit access to third country port usage
  • Significant boost for Sri Lanka’s logistic and export industries

By Charumini de Silva



Development Strategies and International Trade Minister Malik Samara-wickrama revealed that the long-delayed Costal Shipping Agreement between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka will be signed this month.



“The Costal Shipping Agreement between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka will be signed very soon after receiving Cabinet approval,” he said at the official launch of the Trade Facilitation Framework for Multi-Country Consolidation (MCC) with the assistance of the Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation (GAFT) together with Women in Logistics and Transport (WiLAT) Sri Lanka and Verité Research in Colombo last week. 



He said the agreement would be signed soon, upon receiving Cabinet approval. 



The Minster said the signing of the Costal Shipping Agreement would also permit third country port usage, which allows usage of ports of the East Coast in India under this agreement. 

Accordingly, this will be a significant development, particularly for Sri Lanka’s logistic industry as well as for the export sector.



Daily FT learns that Minister Samarawickrama and a local delegation will leave for Bangladesh on an official visit next week to finalise the agreement.

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