They placed the privatisation demand at an international workshop on 'Infrastructure Financing in Bangladesh' in Dhaka yesterday.

President of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) Annisul Huq observed that the main problem for Chittagong seaport, the main maritime port of the country, is the politics of the country.

"The politicians of the country should reach a consensus for a long term to free the port from all types of politics, and the intention of the planning has to come through on the basis of consensus," he said.

He suggested that the port management should be handed over to a private authority to decrease the high cost for the port-users.

"The total management of the CPA (Chittagong Port Authority) needs to be overhauled to make the management competitive and efficient," the leader of the biggest export sector told the international meet, adding that bureaucratic problems between the CPA and customhouse also cause huge problems to the port-users.

Per Helsselberg, managing director of Maersk Sealand in Dhaka, billed the Chittagong Port as the costliest port in the world and suggested making it efficient through privatisation and computerisation.

Former commerce minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury said CPA should look how soon they could corporatise the port.

"CPA should come in the capital market and by this there will be a change in the management," he said.