German Economic Cooperation and Development Minister Gerd Müller has expressed his satisfaction over the progress in Bangladesh’s garment sector and said his country wants to continue helping Bangladesh for the development of the textile sector, according to newspaper reports in the country. The German minister’s comments came during a courtesy call on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Müller said the fire protection and labour protection measures in Bangladesh’s RMG sector improved a lot. Hasina emphasised that foreign buyers should increase the prices of the apparel products, which would ultimately help the workers to get better wages. She said her government increased the wages of the clothing workers by more than 200 percent after coming to power in 2009. She also said the policy of her party was to promote the workers and farmers of Bangladesh. Earlier in the day, Müller expressed satisfaction over compliance by DBL Group, a major garment exporter of Bangladesh. “I am impressed by the standards that DBL has set,” he said at the DBL factory premises in Gazipur. The company has high social and ecological standards and it mainly produces garment items for German customers, Müller said. “I appreciate what DBL has done in regards to the community clinic, a shop for basic commodities at fair prices inside the factory for the workers and a mini fire station.” He called upon all factories to emulate DBL. Müller, along with Bangladesh’s Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed, visited the factories of DBL Group in Gazipur to inaugurate the mini fire brigade, which will fight any fire incident in the factories located within a one kilometer radius. Germany is currently a top destination of Bangladeshi garment products, with almost all of its major retailers like Hugo Boss, Adidas, Olymp, KiK, Lidl, s.Oliver and Gerry Webber now sourcing from Bangladesh. Bangladesh exported garments worth $4.33 billion in fiscal 2014-15, which was $4.38 billion in fiscal 2013-14, according to the Export Promotion Bureau. Tofail Ahmed said compliance in almost all the garment factories improved after inspections by two international agencies — Accord and Alliance.
