Inclusive business can play a vital role for success in the country’s readymade garment, said state minister for labour and employment Md Mujibul Haque on Tuesday. He came up with the observation while addressing a seminar on inclusive business policy as chief guest.Urging the country’s garment owners to employ more and more inclusive workforce, the state minister said, ‘Bangladesh have already enacted the Rights and Protection of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2013.’To implement the Act, he said, the government is pledge-bound to help increase the productive capacity of persons with disability; provide necessary support and opportunities for skilled and unskilled inclusive workforce; and increase the number of PWDs in public and private jobs.Appreciating the efforts of Ananta Group, Bitopi Group and Shin Shin Group for adopting inclusive business policy in their factories, Mujibul said, ‘We hope other industries will also follow inclusive business policy like the RMG sector.’The seminar titled ‘Inclusive Business: Could it lead to higher productivity and better working condition?’ and organised by the Center of Excellence for Bangladesh Apparel Industry in collaboration with ILO RMG Center of Excellence Project was also attended by FBCCI president Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin, BGMEA president Siddiqur Rahman, Technical and Madrassa Education Division secretary Alamgir Hossain as special guests.A panel discussion was also held during the seminar. The discussion moderated by Misami Garment Ltd managing director Miran Ali. TMED secretary Alamgir Hossain, CEBAI president Atiqul islam, Dhaka University Prof Ferhet Anwar, ILO country director Srinivas Reddy, head of development cooperation of SIDA Anders Ohrstrom, BGMEA vice-president (finance) Mohammad Nasir, Target Australia’s head of ethical sourcing Arup Shaha, and labour leader Babul Akter took part in the discussion as panelists.Observing that the title of the seminar is a very thought-provoking one, Atiqul islam said, ‘We know persons with disabilities are part of society, but how many of us know that about 10 per cent of our 160 million populations are PWDs? This huge number mostly remains unemployed, and a burden on the family, community and the state.’ ‘I take this opportunity to thank our development partners SIDA, H&M, BGMEA and ILO for establishing CEBAI in December 2014. With the support of the government and our development partners, we hope CEBAI will soon mature into a research and information hub for the apparel sector, and make significant contributions to the sector,’ he added.
