Readymade garment manufacturers on Tuesday urged their American and European buyers to provide “fair price” and operate “responsible businesses” as part of global value chain.Addressing a press briefing about steps so far taken up by factory owners for secured working environment, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) Siddiqur Rahman claimed that now all their factories became hundred percent safe and secured for workers.Other leaders of the BGMEA including senior vice president Faruque Hossain, Atiqul Karim, Monir Hossain and BKMEA senior vice president Monsur Ahmed were present at the press briefing at the association’s headquarters in the city.The BGMEA president said that both the American and European buyers have been curtailing their apparel prices on various pleas since the Rana Plaza incident.But in last couple of years, the garment factory owners have implemented huge programmes and taken lot of steps to make their factories secure and safe for workers”, he said.As result, he noted, the G-7 meeting has appreciated the Bangladesh’s steps and said the country has achieved more than expected in regard to workers safety.The BGMEA chief claimed that the Bangladeshi garment factory owners have complied with “Sustainability Compact of the Geneva-announcement” made following the Rana Plaza tragedy.Making an earnest call to the buyers to follow the points which they are supposed to do on their part, he said one of the three main points of Compact is to “operate responsible business”.While apparel prices continued falling in USA and EU markets, the business operation cost has increased locally and it has become tough for them to operate their factories.”So we urge them to offer fair price and operate responsible business for the sake of sustainability as part of global value chain and initiate move to adopt a uniform code of conduct,” said Siddiqur Rahman.He mentioned the government has also done a lot as the number of staff in the Labour Directorate was increased through ppointing 575 new factory inspectorsThe BGMEA leader said buyers’ organizations Accord and Alliance have completed visit of 2500 factories out of total 3660.Some 337 trade unions got registration since 2013 and payment of 0.03 percent of the export value was mandatory for garment factory owners to the workers’ welfare fund.Minimum salary of the garment workers was increased by 77 percent, he said.
