EFL achieved a significant milestone in cross-border trade by creating a tailor-made logistics solution and acting as the key facilitator to handle the very first bonded Cross-Border Land-Air Transshipment, on behalf of a leading European retail brand. This alternative efficient gateway was used to strengthen ties between Indo-Bangladeshi trade routes and to enhance the efficiency of logistics by reducing the waiting times at the port of origin. EFL trucks from Bangladesh crossed into India with the Transshipment to reach Kolkata within the stipulated time-frame.

For this Transshipment, the EFL offices in Bangladesh and India collaborated in handling the cargo at the point of origin. The transfer of cargo weighing 4.1 tonnes from Bangladesh trucks into Indian trucks took place at the Benapole (Dhaka) – Petrapole (India) border, moved in GPS enabled trucks to Kolkata airport and were airfreighted to reach the final destination in Europe within the stipulated time-frame.  This trial movement has proved Kolkata to be a strategic and a useful Transshipment gateway for inbound and outbound air transportation to Bangladesh.

Hanif Yusoof, Founder & President of EFL and Group CEO of Expolanka Holdings PLC stated that, "This movement proves EFL’s best practices in action through a simplified cross border logistics process leading to accelerated and enhanced bilateral trade between the two countries. I'm pleased that we are opening up new opportunities for trade in the South Asian region that has been identified by the World Bank to have potential to grow from $23 billion to $67 billion by simply reducing man-made, trade barriers of this nature.”

The facilitation of this Transshipment after strategically liaising with the respective countries is certainly a stepping stone to foster trade, enable seamless movement and positively impact business growth, beyond borders. The success of this movement was followed by an additional shipment of similar volume transhipped within a few weeks of this inaugural movement.

CEO of the EFL Group, S. Senthilnathan said, “We are proud to enrich ties between India with Bangladesh through this movement and alternative solutions of this nature will enable us to enhance efficiencies of our logistics operations to promote international trade.”

With this impactful breakthrough that began with the signing of BBIN agreement in 2016, EFL looks forward to enhancing regional trade and connectivity to large markets and continuously re-iterating its presence as a key contributor to seamless cross-border movements.

EFL (Expolanka Freight) is a leading provider of supply chain solutions across 18 countries and over 60 cities. Founded in 1982, EFL is headquartered in Sri Lanka and is ranked among the top five forwarders in the Indian Subcontinent and recognised as an expert in fashion logistics.

EFL’s foray into international markets began with the establishment of EFL Bangladesh in 1993. The operation has grown to include a state of the art airfreight hub in Tongi and a bonded QC inspection centre in Chittagong. EFL India was founded in 1996 and is the network’s largest single origin operation offering logistics services for multiple verticals in over 18 offices.