Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday asked foreign buyers to raise the prices of Bangladeshi garment products which will ultimately be spent on ensuring the further welfare of RMG workers. The Prime Minister made the request when Dutch Ambassador to Bangladesh Gerben de Jong paid a farewell call on her at her office. PM’s Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim briefed reporters after the meeting. Mentioning that her government has taken steps for the welfare of RMG workers, Sheikh Hasina said their wages have been hiked by over 200 per cent since 2009. “Besides, we’re setting up dormitories for the female garment workers,” she said. Talking about the concern of different countries over Bangladesh’s garment sector, the Prime Minister appreciated the Netherlands. “The Netherlands never put pressure on Bangladesh in this regard.” Laying emphasis on increasing connectivity, the Prime Minister mentioned her government’s initiative for setting up Paira Port in Patuakhali alongside the existing ports in Chittagong and Mongla. “The Paira Port will help increase connectivity as the neighbouring countries will be able to use it with other ports of the country,” she said. The Prime Minister expressed her satisfaction over the existing friendly ties between Bangladesh and the Netherlands. The relations have reached a new dimension during the tenure of the Dutch envoy, she added. The Dutch envoy highly appreciated Bangladesh’s tremendous development in the RMG sector, saying that Bangladesh’s target of earning US$ 50 billion from the sector by 2021 is possible. Mr Gerben expressed his country’s eagerness to develop Bangladesh’s ports He also showed his country’s interest in exchanging cooperation in the fields of agriculture, horticulture, livestock and land reclamation. “There’re many areas through which Bangladesh and the Netherlands could cooperate with each other.” The Dutch envoy highly praised Bangladesh’s impressive success in cricket, especially in the one-day version.
