Bangladesh, Japan sit today to advance negotiation

Bangladesh and Japan will sit today (Monday) to further advance negotiations on the operation and maintenance of the third terminal at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA), as the Japanese consortium’s proposal was found unrealistic by the Bangladesh side in the last meeting.

Sources said the meeting held between the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism, the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB), and the Japanese consortium on Friday could not reach an agreement, as it offered only 22.5 per cent of the total revenue from the third terminal to the government.

The Japanese consortium shared the revised proposal on Friday, based on four sources of earnings: embarkation, cargo handling, ground handling, and commercial space at the third terminal.

“Japan is likely to place a revised proposal on Monday as per the request from the Bangladesh side,” said an official, preferring not to be named.

In the first-round meeting, the Japanese side proposed an 18 per cent revenue share, which was increased to 22.5 per cent in the second revision.

The Japanese consortium proposed sharing 22.5 per cent of the revenue from passenger flights and US$37 per tonne from cargo.

It also wanted to introduce a $13.5 embarkation fee per person on international flights, $1,000 from the real-time control panel, which is called a whiteboard in ground handling, and $600 for small craft handling.

However, it wanted to retain earnings from the entire commercial space, parking, landing, and overflight charges of all international flights.

The government side, however, refrained from offering its proposal for negotiation on Friday, although CAAB had formulated its own proposal, it was learnt.

“We want to see what Japan proposes in the next revised proposal and then discuss it based on the CAAB proposal,” said a senior official on condition of anonymity.

But he said they have good intentions to finalise the negotiation today.

Officials also said the Japanese consortium has demanded a 15-year contract with a sovereign guarantee.

smunima@yahoo.com