In interviews with Dhaka Tribune, the new BGMEA president and his predecessor have outlined their strategy for ensuring the RMG sector progresses towards its target of hitting $50bn in exports by 2021. We welcome the commitment they have made to zero tolerance on compliance issues and the importance of enabling a more open environment for worker representation and trade union involvement. It is clear that for the Bangladesh RMG industry to grow as everyone hopes, including the hundreds of international brands and stakeholders participating in the Accord and Alliance initiatives, more land needs to be made available to build modern, purpose-built factories. Around 40% of factories, employing around 1.5 million workers, are still in shared, potentially risky buildings. The new BGMEA leader Siddiqur Rahman is right to warn that if the the government does not expedite implementation of the RMG Palli in Bausia so that closed factories and those housed in shared buildings can be relocated, the risk of lost orders due to safety concerns will increase, threatening jobs. It is vital that the government does more to assist the industry in the urgent need to support factory owners in completing remediation works to make the RMG sector fully compliant and able to invest in improving productivity and quality. Shortage of land is the biggest bottleneck to attracting new investment. If this can be mitigated, then the sector’s success and experienced workforce should enable it to attract the funds and orders it needs to grow. The government has or controls thousands of acres of idle and under-utilised land. This should be leased or sold to develop new RMG parks where investors and RMG companies can build more modern, more productive purpose-built factories. Everyone, especially the millions of people dependent on the industry for their livelihood, needs the government to do more to help the RMG sector grow sustainably.
