Chobhar Dry Port fails to attract containers

Minister Badu urged entrepreneurs to use the facility

 

Kathmandu, July 7

The Chobhar Dry Port, the first and only dry port in the country away from the border point, has a dismal performance as only 16 containers have arrived here in the past three months since the beginning of its operation on April 5.

Built by Nepal Intermodal Transport Development Board (NITDB) at a cost of Rs. 1.54 billion, the port has the required facilities like warehouses, appraisal shades, customs, quarantine, security, stuffing and de-stuffing shade, banks, operator company office, electricity substation and weighing machine.

Containers from the sea ports in India can directly reach Chobhar for customs clearance and other works. But despite one-door service system in place to facilitate the importers and exporters, they have not been using the infrastructure in their cross-border trade.

Executive Director of the NITDB, Ashish Gajurel, in an interaction organised by the board at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies (MoICS) and chaired by Minister Dilendra Prasad Badu, said that contrary to the enthusiasm of the private sector seen at the inaugural programme, they were not attracted to the port. Meanwhile, goods worth more than Rs. 20 billion are exported from Kathmandu to India and third countries.

Entrepreneurs said that the procedural hassles barred them from using the facility. For example, they alleged that the Birgunj Dry Port force the importers to clear customs there in order to meet its annual revenue target.

President of Nepal Freight Forwarders Association, Manoj Adhikari, said that the customs clearance cost is high at Chobhar Dry Port since the goods need to unload and load at the border points and the activity should be repeated here as well.

According to him, entrepreneurs also want a sound security system for the containers.

Entrepreneurs suggested that the government needed to promote the dry port since many traders and producers are not aware of the infrastructure and facility available here. Binod Kumar Sethia, First Vice President of Nepal Foreign Trade Association, suggested to provide additional facilities to the traders using the port.

They also said that the shipping company only pay the transportation cost up to the border point and importers can't pay the additional cost of the international containers. Likewise, they don't get containers in time while exporting goods.

The Ministry had said earlier that the new dry port in the Kathmandu Valley would reduce the traffic and crowd at the customs at the border points.

Port to be listed in shipping map

Director of the Department of Customs, Ram Prasad Regmi, said that an application was sent to the World Trade Orgnaisation, through the MoICS, for the Unilog Number for the Chobhar Dry Port. The number will put it in the global shipping map. After the assignment of the number to the port, cargo will have the cost, insurance and freight (CIF) – an international shipping agreement representing the charges paid by the seller that covers the CIF cost for the goods in transit, he said.

In terms of customs clearance, the port has facilities on par with the Tribhuvan International Airport, while the foreign containers have double time, 144 hours, to stay in Nepal without paying the customs duties. For other ports, the time is only 72 hours.

According to Regmi, Kathmandu-bound containers need not be opened at Birgunj customs, only the entry of basic information is required.

Minister Badu urged the entrepreneurs to use the facility. "If you are getting time and cost benefits while using the new dry port in the Valley, you have to change your policy and practice of conducting cross-border trade," he said.

Committee is proposed

Secretary of Commerce, Dr. Ganesh Prasad Pandeya, proposed to form a committee including the representatives from the ministry, Department of Customs (DoC), exporters, freight forwarders and other concerned business bodies.

Likewise, Secretary of Industry, Arjun Prasad Pokharel, suggested to prioritise about 20 goods to be handled by the port and expand the list in the future.

He also suggested the DoC to prepare a document including all the information about the dry port and facilities provided at it.

The port has 65,000 square metres space, enough to accommodate 500 containers and 500 trucks. 

  Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 8 July 2022.