The Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation of the Netherlands, Lolianne Ploumen, yesterday said lots of progress have so far been made by the RMG sector, and still some challenges are ahead that need to be addressed. `The Netherlands minister came up with the challenges at a meeting on development of the Bangladesh RMG sector in the context of Responsible Global Supply Chains through Multi-stakeholder partnership held at a city hotel. “If there is a fair wage, there should have a fair price,” Ploumen told the reporters after the meeting. She said lots of progress have been made, including increasing workers’ minimum wage, inspection at the factories and labour law amendment. “I think, we have to celebrate the progress that has been made by the RMG sector since 2013.” Still remains some challenges and collective efforts are necessary to address them, particularly fixing ‘true price’, she said. Ploumen added that the second issue is unauthorised subcontracting that needs to be eliminated, and the third is the right to organise. In his address, Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed said the Accord and Alliance are creating obstacles in the name of social audit. He alleged that they want to interfere in some issues beyond their jurisdiction. The government runs under the rule of law and they should not interfere in the internal issues, said Tofail. Talking on fair price, the commerce minister said RMG owners have to spend a lot of money on making the factory compliant, but the buyers did not increase the price of products. The Dutch minister also said they are discussing the issue of finance for small and medium enterprises. She emphasised the need for speedy completion of processes towards adoption of the implementing rules of Bangladesh Labour Act. Tofail said the rules of amended Labour Act 2013 would be implemented by July. The meeting reaffirmed the collective determination to continue to work together in improving the condition of Bangladeshi workers in RMG industry. The Dutch minister called upon the industry owners to fully cooperate with the government of Bangladesh and ILO to complete all the safety assessments in the still-to-be inspected export-oriented factories. She also recognised that once the challenges are addressed, the Bangladeshi garment sector could be transformed into a model of developing sustainable global supply chain in a labour-intensive manufacturing industry. The meeting was also attended by a multi-stakeholder delegation including BGMEA, BKMEA, brands, trade unions and civil society organisations.
