The Federation of Freight Forwarders’ Associations in India (FFFAI) organised a meeting to discuss on the role of Inland Waterways and Land Ports with an objective of promoting cross border trade by effective utilization of multimodal transport systems. The meet held on August 4, 2023, in Kolkata, was addressed by Shankar Shinde, Chairman, FFFAI; Aditya Mishra, IPS, Chairman, Land Port Authority of India; Arvind Kumar, Director, Inland Waterways Authority of India; Dushyant Mulani, Chairman Elect, FFFAI. Sudip Dey Vice Chariman FFFAI elaborated on the importance and recent developments on Inland Waterways and land ports in facilitating international trade, especially in the East/Northeast region of India. “The initiatives of the Government of India in promoting inland waterways and land ports to increase cross border trade are highly commendable. FFFAI is committed to support the Government’s initiatives in this regard for the larger interest of the EXIM trade,” said Shinde. He also pointed out the government’s initiatives on creating the infrastructure, connectivity, and bilateral talks to increase EXIM trade with the South Asia & ASEAN countries. And such initiatives are not only limited to expanding our Indian trade but also support the 3rd country transshipment cargo facilitation with land lock countries providing Indian Gateway ports,” he said.