She said these things as a guest at an inter-ministerial meeting on construction of permanent and temporary warehouses to resolve cargo handling problems at the airport, held at 11 am today in the conference room of the Ministry of Commerce. The meeting was chaired by Commerce Minister Khandaker Abdul Muktadir.
Minister Afroza Khanam said, efforts are being made collectively to transform Biman Bangladesh Airlines into a safer, more modern and effective organization. Quick resolution of long-standing technical and infrastructural problems is now a priority. She stressed on implementing decisions quickly while simplifying necessary formalities and ensuring transparency and accountability.
Regarding creating an AI model, she said, in improving services, the use of state-of-the-art technology in rapid cargo clearance will add a new dimension to the country's aviation sector. At this time, she called upon the concerned agencies to work collectively to quickly build permanent and temporary warehouses.
At the meeting, the Commerce Minister said the responsibility of building and managing airport infrastructure lies with the concerned authorities. Customs' responsibility is to ensure the legality of imported and exported goods, necessary declarations, paperwork and customs-related matters. Warehouse construction and infrastructure management is not a core responsibility of customs. If necessary infrastructure is provided, customs will conduct their activities there. Therefore, to increase cargo handling capacity, infrastructural problems must be resolved quickly.
The Commerce Minister further said, although the matter is not directly under the Ministry of Commerce, it is closely related to the country's trade and export activities. Especially in expanding trade with the European Union, modern cargo management at the airport is very important. For this reason, the Ministry of Commerce is ready to provide necessary cooperation in solving the problem.
At the meeting, detailed discussions were held on 7 possible sites for constructing 1 temporary warehouse and 4 possible sites for constructing 1 permanent warehouse to resolve cargo handling problems at the airport. Besides, discussions were held on constructing cold storage infrastructure and preparing ground handling guidelines to expedite import and export of medicines at the airport, sending notices of import of cargo goods to importers in the shortest possible time, and creating an AI model to locate imported goods.
The meeting was attended by Md. Ataur Rahman, Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce; Fahmida Akhtar NDC, Secretary of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism; Managing Director of Biman Bangladesh Airlines; Chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority; and senior officials of the National Board of Revenue (NBR), Bangladesh Bank and concerned ministries.
