‘Germany is our trusted friend and has given us duty and quota-free access of our garment products to its market’. German government is providing Bangladesh with 50m euro in assistance to improve garment workers’ skills, said commerce ministry sources. The project work got underway in July after signing an agreement between two governments. The project is expected to be completed by the end of January, 2018. A meeting in this regard was held at the commerce ministry office recently, presided over by Senior Commerce Secretary Hedayetullah Al Mamoon. Germany is the second largest single export destination for Bangladesh’s garment products after the United States, accounting for $4.33bn in the fiscal year 2014-15, according to the Export Promotion Bureau. The German government has launched a website on Bangladesh exports where the development stories of the country’s garment sector. The standard of the Bangladeshi garment products are displayed on the website. According to the project proposal, workers’ inefficiency in the garment sector will be reduced with the completion of the project. Workplace safety and the standard of workers’ living is also expected to be improved. German government is also providing assistance to improve garment workers’ skills in in the countries like Myanmar, Vietnam, Pakistan and China. “Germany is our trusted friend and has given us duty and quota-free access of our garment products to its market,” Senior Commerce Secretary told the Dhaka Tribune. He said Bangladesh’s garment exports to Germany has increased by 20% in the last three months.
