Desk Report:
The use of cutting-edge technology in fast cargo unloading will add new dimension to the country’s aviation sector, said Minister of Civil Aviation and Tourism Afroza Khanam, MP.
An inter-ministerial meeting was held on Monday (August 17, 2026) at 11 am at the conference room of the Ministry of Commerce at the Bangladesh Secretariat on the construction of permanent and temporary warehouses to resolve cargo handling problems at airports. Minister of Civil Aviation and Tourism Afroza Khanam, MP, was present as the guest of honor at the meeting. Minister of Commerce Khandaker Abdul Muktadir presided over the meeting.
Minister of Civil Aviation and Tourism Afroza Khanam said that collective work is being done to transform Biman Bangladesh Airlines into a safer, modern and more efficient organization. The priority is now to quickly resolve long-standing technical and infrastructural issues. He emphasized on ensuring transparency and accountability by simplifying the necessary formalities and implementing decisions quickly.
Regarding the creation of the AI model, the Minister of Civil Aviation and Tourism said, “We are not followers in the use of technology, but we want to be leaders.” Therefore, the use of cutting-edge technology in the rapid unloading of cargo products to improve the quality of service will add a new dimension to the country’s aviation sector. At this time, the Minister called on the relevant organizations to work together to quickly build permanent and temporary warehouses.
At the meeting, the Commerce Minister said that the responsibility of building and managing the infrastructure of the airport lies with the relevant authorities. The responsibility of Customs is to ensure the validity of import-export products, necessary declarations, documents and customs-related matters. Warehouse construction and infrastructure management are not the main responsibility of Customs.
He said, “Once the necessary infrastructure is built, Customs will conduct their activities there. Therefore, infrastructural problems must be solved quickly to increase the capacity of cargo handling.”
The Commerce Minister said that although the matter is not directly under the purview of the Ministry of Commerce, it is closely related to the country’s trade and export activities. Modern cargo management at the airport is very important, especially in expanding trade with the European Union. For this reason, the Ministry of Commerce is ready to provide necessary assistance to solve the problem.
The meeting discussed in detail seven possible locations for the construction of a temporary warehouse and four possible locations for the construction of a permanent warehouse to resolve the cargo handling problem at the airport.
In addition, discussions were held on the construction of cold storage infrastructure and the preparation of ground handling guidelines to accelerate the import and export of medicines at the airport, sending notices of import of cargo products to the importer as soon as possible, and developing an AI model to find imported products.
Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce Md. Ataur Rahman, Secretary of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism Fahmida Akhtar, NDC, Managing Director of Biman Bangladesh Airlines, Chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh, National Board of Revenue (NBR), Bangladesh Bank and senior officials of the concerned ministries were present.
