2nd Trade Facilitation Capacity Building Program for BIMSTEC Countries
Date: March 18-29, 2025
Venue: Magnolia Hall, India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi – 110 003

19th March (Wednesday)

10:00 am:
Welcome Remarks: Deepak Mishra, Director & CE, ICRIER
Opening Remarks: Thiam Hee Ng, Regional Head, Regional Cooperation and Integration Unit, South Asia Department, ADB
Opening Remarks: CSR Ram, JS [BIMSTEC & SAARC], MEA, Govt. of India
Inaugural Address: Sanjay Kumar Agarwal, Chairman, CBIC and Special Secretary, Govt. of India

10:45 am: Group Photograph & Tea/Coffee Break

11:00 am:
Technical Session 1:
• Trade facilitation in BIMSTEC Region – State of Play and Constraints
• Introduction to the BIMSTEC Trade Facilitation Strategic Framework
Lead – Thiam Hee Ng, Regional Head, Regional Cooperation and Integration Unit, South Asia Department, ADB

01:00 pm: Lunch

02:00 pm:
Technical Session 2: UN Global Survey on Digital and Sustainable Trade Facilitation: Progress in BIMSTEC Countries
Lead – Yann Duval, Chief of Trade Policy and Facilitation Section, UN-ESCAP

03:00 pm: Tea/Coffee Break

03:15 pm:
Interactive Session with
• Anil Bhardwaj, Secretary General, FISME
• Sohel Kazani, Manager and founder of Bharat Freight Group, Deputy Chairman of ICC in the India-Armenia Task Force and nominated board member of FFFAI
• Dinkar Singh, Director, Public Affairs at UPS, Indian Subcontinent

Moderated by Nisha Taneja, Professor and Lead for Trade, Investment and External Relations (TIER), ICRIER

20th March (Thursday)

10:00 am:
Technical Session 3: Paperless Trade
Lead –Yann Duval, Chief of Trade Policy and Facilitation Section, UN-ESCAP

11:15 am: Tea/Coffee Break

11:30 am:
Technical Session 4: National Single Window
Lead – Kevin Boban, Joint Director, DG Systems and Data Management, CBIC

12:45 pm: Lunch

02:00 pm:
Technical Session 5: Risk Management
Lead – Sunil Kumar Sinha, Consultant, ADB

03:15 pm: Tea/Coffee Break

03:30 pm:
Presentation on Logistics Data Bank Project and Impact on Trade/logistics Facilitation by NICDC
Lead – Arvind Devaraj, Chief Operating Officer, NICDC Logistics Data Services Ltd

21st March (Friday)

10:00 am:
Technical Session 6: Use of Trusted Trader Programs for Risk Management
Lead – Rajesh Kumar, Additional Commissioner, Directorate of International Customs, CBIC

11:15 am: Tea/Coffee Break

11:30 am:
Technical Session 7: Trade Related Frauds & Money Laundering Typologies
Lead –Robin Gupta, Joint Director, Enforcement Directorate, GoI

01:00 pm: Lunch

02:00 pm:
Technical Session 8: Potential of New Technologies in Customs Operations
Lead – Supria Chandran, Deputy Commissioner, CBIC

03:00 pm: Tea/Coffee Break

03:15 pm:
Technical Session 9: Coordinated Border Management
Lead – Satish Reddy, Consultant, ADB

22nd March (Saturday)

10:00 am:
Technical Session 10: Emerging Issue 1 – Trade Facilitation for E-commerce
Lead – Rupa Chanda, Director of Trade, Investment and Innovation, UN-ESCAP

11:15 am: Tea/ Coffee Break

11:30 am:
Technical Session 11: Emerging Issue 2 – Green Trade Facilitation
Lead: Pramod Sant, Former Vice President -Head Import Export Customs, Siemens Ltd, Director General, Federation of Freight Forwarders Association of India

01:00 pm: Lunch

02:00 pm:
Technical Session 12: Gender Mainstreaming in Trade Facilitation
Lead: ICRIER

23rd – 24th March: Visit to Chennai Sea Port

25th – 26th March: Visit to Agartala Land Port 

27th March (Thursday)

10:00 am: onwards
Practical Project on Program Learnings
Moderated by Satish Reddy, Consultant, ADB

28th March (Friday)

10:30 am:
Presentations by participants on program learnings

01:00 pm: Lunch

02:00 pm:
Concluding Session
 Concluding Address by CSR Ram, JS [BIMSTEC & SAARC], MEA, Govt. of India
 Distribution of Certificates of Participation
 Group Photograph

29th March (Saturday): Departure of Participants