The Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) believes that Bangladesh’s readymade garments (RMG) sector is now one of the safest and most secure in the world. “We can now say that Bangladesh’s RMG sector is safer than that of any country in the world in terms of structural safety, fire safety and electrical safety,” BGMEA president Md. Siddiqur Rahman told The Independent.In an interview, he said a lot of measures has been taken to ensure the safety and security of garments factories following the Rana Plaza collapse four years ago.He said the Rana Plaza incident, that killed over 1,100 workers and injured many others, was a wake-up call for the Bangladesh garments sector.Rahman said the Rana Plaza incident led to three initiatives—the Accord Alliance of the European Union, the alliance of US buyers and the National Action Plan of the Bangladesh government and the International Labour Organisation (ILO).He said of the 2,200 factories under the Accord Alliance, the alliance itself noted that almost 80 factories have completed their compliance. “But I think almost 90 per cent factories have completed their compliance and many of them have completed cent per cent compliance,” he added. The BGMEA boss mentioned that the Bangladesh sustainability compact was signed following the incident, as a wrong concept was generated elsewhere in the world that “all our garments factories are like Rana Plaza”. He said there are 2,200 factories under the Accord Alliance and 1,500 under the National Action Plan. “I think there is no existence of all the 1,500 factories now, since around 12,00 factories were closed during the last two years. Possibly 600 to 700 factories exist here,” he said. Rahman said the factories under the National Action Plan have already started working on their fortification for their safety and security. “We hope the factories that want to continue and sustain their businesses would be able to complete their fortification and other kinds of compliance by the stipulated deadline of June 2018,” he said. Referring to initiatives taken by the BGMEA, one of the largest trade associations in the country representing the RMG industry, he said the labour law was amended within 90 days of the Rana Plaza incident, whereas the US took 30 years to amend its labour law. He said the BGMEA had introduced two bonuses during two Eids and made a 5 per cent increment mandatory. “Besides, we have created a welfare fund, where a million dollars are being deposited each year to ensure the health, insurance and studies of the workers’ children,” he said. Asked whether the BGMEA would make any effort to provide jobs to Rana Plaza survivors, he said no one had come to them during the last one-and-a-half years for jobs. On the future of the RMG sector, the BGMEA leader said it depends on the world economy. “If the world market remains stable, it would be good for us,” he added. Replying to another question, the BGMEA leader said currently they export readymade garments to new markets, other than those in the US, the EU and Canada. “We did not have no new market even four to five years ago. Now, we export over 20 per cent of our volumes to new markets,” he said. The Rana Plaza collapse of April 2013 in Savar, a suburb of Dhaka, highlighted the severe conditions in Bangladesh’s garments industry. It led the global brands and retailers to choose other markets, including China and other developing countries. It also triggered an uproar in Bangladesh and overseas for reforms in the sector that helps the country earn more than USD 20 billion a year from exports, mainly from the US and the European countries.
