Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed said textile and apparel industry of Bangladesh has attracted scholars and policymakers’ attention all over the world because of its robust export performance in the last three decades and increasing contribution to the country’s poverty reduction and women employment. He said Bangladesh is now the world’s second-largest exporter of RMG and this sector is the country’s leading export earner accounting for US$ 25.5 billion or 82 percent of the total exports. More than four million workers are directly engaged in this sector playing a crucial role in poverty alleviation, women empowerment and overall economic development. The Commerce Minister, now visiting Germany, was addressing a high-level meeting on the readymade garments of Bangladesh, its occupational safety and supply chain on Monday night, jointly organised by The Federal Ministry of Economic Co-operation and Development and German Social Accident Insurance. Hans Joachim Fuchtel, Parliamentary State Secretary, the Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Dr. Joachim Breuer, Director General of German Social Insurance, representatives of ILO, representatives of Buyers and Retailers and delegates from home and abroad. Terming Germany a reliable partner of Bangladesh in development co-operation, the minister said in trade with Germany, Bangladesh has for years recorded a large surplus. Germany is the second-largest export destination of Bangladeshi products after the USA, accounting for about 16 percent to the total export earnings while Bangladesh export to Germany amounted to US$ 5012.45 million in 2014-2015 and over the last couple of years export from Bangladesh to Germany have grown spectacularly, given rise to an enviably positive trade of balance in favour of Bangladesh, said the minister. “We have a plan to reach US$ 50 billion exports from RMG and apparel industry by 2021. We believe that such robust performance has been possible due to the advantages Bangladesh have in terms of price and capacity as well as liberalization of the RMG sector through phasing out of quota and duty free access provided by the major trading nations of the world,” he added. He informed that the government of Bangladesh, private sectors, workers’ associations, overseas buyers, development partners and International Labour Organization (ILO) — all have come up with resources to put in place specific reform programmes to this end. “In this perspective, a Tripartite Plan of Action on Fire Safety and Structural Integrity adopted by the government is believed to be potentially capable of addressing the whole gamut of issues that have emerged following the fire and building collapse. ILO, European Union (EU) and the government of Bangladesh jointly adopted ‘Sustainability Compact’ in Geneva in July 2013.The Government of United States of America (USA) provided Bangladesh Action Plan-2013 to ensure labour rights, occupational safety and health of the workers in the RMG industry of Bangladesh,” he said. He said the progress so far made demonstrates a renewed approach in governing the affairs of the country’s RMG sector. No such accidents have occurred after Rana Plaza accident. Yet, it remains a long-drawn and continuous process. The government, through various mechanisms, has been monitoring all activities so that steps taken in this regard are completed in a well-coordinated manner. He mentioned some notable achievement and work which is now in progress. Bangladesh Labour Law (Amended), 2013 was amended on 15 July 2013 where provisions of the fundamental rights to freedom of association and the rights to collective bargaining have been strengthened. Union registration has got new dimension after the amendment of labour law. They are exercising their rights freely in the factories. After amendment of Law, 330 new unions got registration, the drafted Bangladesh EPZ Labour Act, 2014 was adopted by the Cabinet on 7 July 2014, better Work Programme has been launched by ILO as a component of Improving Working Condition in the RMG Sector on 22 October 2013, a plan for assessment of building, fire and electrical safety of more of the export oriented RMG/Knitwear factories has been developed with the assistance of ILO. The minister said the government has undertaken various legal, administrative and institutional reform programmes that involved huge cost of compliance and are eroding the comparative advantage. The commerce minister will also visit Singapore after this meeting on Thursday to attend a seminar styled ‘Bangladesh Trade and Investment Summit-2015’ which will be jointly organized by Bangladesh High Commission in Singapore and ‘Midas Touch Asia’ (MTA). Foreign Secretary, Md Shahidul Haque and Vice Chairman of Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), Shubhashish Bose will also attend the seminar in Singapore.
