Regional : Advancing Cooperation in the Maritime Sector in South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation Program

Industry and trade / Industry and trade sector development

SASEC member countries recognize that transport, especially maritime connectivity, is a prime catalyst for international trade competitiveness and economic growth, with its critical support role in international logistics. The inclusion of Maldives, Sri Lanka and Myanmar in the program has raised the importance of maritime connectivity for SASEC. However, there has not been a modal cooperation mechanism within SASEC for the maritime transport sector.

Considering current delays in container transit, the ability to expedite transit times between discharging from the vessel and delivering cargo to the end user will reduce trade and transport costs and ensure the reliability of international logistics chains.

Trade in South Asia is expected to continue to increase significantly both in terms of intra-regional movements and trade outside the region. Most of this import and export traffic will be carried via the maritime mode. Thus, advancing cooperation in the maritime sector in the SASEC countries is crucial in ensuring that the subregion's potential economic growth can be fully realized, particularly as income generated by trade can be used to address poverty alleviation.

A core problem faced by SASEC ports is the limited maritime connectivity among member countries. Contributory causes include (i) the high cost of trade and transport, (ii) delays in the transit of containers and/or excessive dwell times at SASEC ports, (iii) redundant and manual data exchanges between various parties in the port community, (iv) prolonged cargo clearance procedures, (v) limited inland transport and port infrastructure adversely impacting on hinterland logistics, (vi) legal and regulatory barriers, and (vii) limited knowledge of maritime cooperation and coordination and international best practices in port operations.

(i) Port infrastructure to enable the efficient handling of the subregion's maritime trade developed and capacity to cope with anticipated growth in container traffic expanded.

(ii) Port logistics and facilities for efficient handling of cargo in major SASEC ports improved.

Pipeline of SASEC maritime projects and initiatives finalized.

1. Analytical studies promoting maritime cooperation in SASEC conducted

2. Capacity and knowledge of SASEC officials on improving port performance and greening of ports enhanced

(i) The final reports on the studies on port greening, port community system, port logistics and hinterland connectivity, and cruise tourism have been completed.

-The study on port greening investigates practical measures and identify future investment projects related to energy efficiency improvement, local renewable power generation, and environmental management.

-The study on port community system formulates plans on digitizing business procedures that will help reduce time and cost of port operations in selected SASEC ports.

-The study on port logistics and hinterland connectivity focuses on key strategies to improve selected ports and port access in the subregion to provide robust port infrastructure and efficient connectivity solutions.

-The study on cruise tourism assesses the potential growth of cruise tourism post COVID-19 and presents a plan of action to spur the growth of the sector in the subregion.

(ii) Stakeholder consultations and virtual knowledge sharing events on the findings of the studies have been undertaken. These dissemination workshops presented the findings and recommendations of the studies and sought stakeholders' guidance on the follow-up actions.

-Dissemination Workshops on Findings of Port Greening Study Bangladesh (September 2021), India (November 2020) and Maldives (September 2020)

-Dissemination Workshops on Findings of Port Community System Study Bangladesh (November 2020, and Maldives (October 2020)

-Dissemination Workshop on Findings of Port Logistics and Inland Connectivity Study Bangladesh, India and Maldives (July 2021)

-Dissemination Workshops on Findings of Cruise Tourism Study Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Myanmar and Sri Lanka (December 2020)

(iii) The study on institutional and regulatory framework will be initiated in 2022, but will be financed by TA 6674-REG: Strengthening the Institutional Mechanism of the South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation Program.