Bangladesh’s UN-mandated role as a regional logistics hub is coming under pressure as the value of re-exported goods dropped sharply in the first quarter of the current fiscal year, according to official data.

Statistics from the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) show that re-exports fell nearly 78 percent year-on-year to Tk 1.95 billion during July–September of fiscal year 2025–26. The decline signals a slowdown in a trade segment that mainly serves neighboring landlocked countries such as Bhutan and Nepal.

Re-exports refer to goods imported into Bangladesh and then shipped onward, generating limited domestic value but providing income through port use, storage, customs handling and logistics services. This trade underpins Bangladesh’s regional connectivity role under UN trade-facilitation principles.

Officials attribute the downturn largely to freight and cross-border hurdles. People familiar with the matter say re-export activity has weakened since political changes on August 05, 2024, with tighter border controls and enhanced security checks—particularly on the Indian side—slowing cargo movement.

During the previous Awami League government, Bangladesh invested heavily in ports, roads and land customs stations, allowing neighboring countries and some Indian states to use Bangladeshi port facilities more extensively. These arrangements generated royalties and handling income.

“The recent contraction reflects weaker regional coordination and cooler bilateral relations,” said an official involved in re-export operations, requesting anonymity.

Economists note that Bangladesh could revive the segment by improving connectivity and logistics efficiency, enabling the country to levy multiple charges across transport, storage and transshipment. “This is essentially transshipment trade—the value addition comes from movement, not manufacturing,” one economist said.

Bangladesh’s preferential trade agreement with Bhutan, signed in 2020, offers duty-free access to a range of goods and could support a rebound if logistical bottlenecks ease.

Key re-export items include plastics, rubber, leather and animal gut, paper and pulp products, man-made fibres and specialised yarns, clothing accessories, stone, cement, glassware, and base metals such as iron, steel, copper and aluminium.