The cotton industry has welcomed the allocation of nearly Australian $620 million in the New South Wales Budget for infrastructure that would help secure the water supply of rural towns in the state, Cotton Australia said on its website. Cotton Australia General Manager, Michael Murray, said the allocation of $53 million to fix the water supply for Broken Hill was particularly appreciated. “For many years the lack of a permanent water solution for Broken Hill has heavily impacted cotton growers, and the businesses and communities that rely on them,” Murray said. “The water situation has been critical for Broken Hill’s citizens and irrigators in the region for many years. Cotton Australia and other irrigator groups had called for a long-term solution to this issue for quite some time, and we are pleased the NSW Government has taken these positive steps to secure water not just for the people of Broken Hill but also for struggling farmers.” The announcement is the second time in recent weeks that northern NSW farmers have received positive news on water security. In late May the NSW government announced it would lift temporary water restrictions which had been imposed on irrigators in the region at Easter time. “After the embargo was lifted some irrigators had been able to undertake limited pumping, which was very welcome,” Murray said. “We appreciate that NSW minister for lands and water, Niall Blair, has been meeting people in the region in recent weeks, hearing the concerns of farmers first-hand. We look forward to working with the government to implement its new water infrastructure plan,” he said.

Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) leaders are hopeful that most of the factory owners will be able to pay wages and bonus to their workers on time ahead of the Eid-ul-fitre.
Differing with BGMEA, the worker leaders alleged that as per the information they so far have received, the number of the factory owners who will fail to pay wages and bonus is not too less.
“We have asked all the garment owners to pay wages of the month of June by July 10 next and Eid bonus by July 15 next,” said Shahidullah Azim, Vice-President of BGMEA.
“We have information that a total of 74 garment factories in Dhaka and Chittagong may fail pay wages of June and festival allowance to their workers,” he added.
Of these factories, 29 are in Dhaka and its adjacent areas while the rest 45 are in Chittagong district, he informed referring data of the Detective Branch and the BGMEA.
He, however, declined to mention the name of the factories.
He said that the BGMEA is monitoring the over situation of the apparel industry through its eight directors of eight zones. The apex trade body will take steps if any owner is found showing negligence in this regard.
Sirajul Islam Rony, President of Bangladesh National Garment Srameek Karmachari League said that the number of vulnerable factories would be 300 to 350 and the BGMEA should be active right now to avert any such ‘irregularities’.
It was seen in the past that chaotic situation usually takes place in the garment industry before any religious occasion over non-payment of wages and bonus.
Last year, the workers of the five apparel units of Tuba Group had to wage fast-unto-death programme one day before the Eid-ul-Fitre demanding wages and Eid bonus.
Shahidullah Azim said that they are more careful this year to avert such untoward incident this year.
Asked about the payment situation of the vulnerable factories, the BGMEA leader said they are repeatedly asking the factory owners to pay wages and bonus as per the given time.
Sirajul Islam Rony said that the workers will come down to the street if they do not get wages and bonus on time.

Inspiron Engineering Pvt. Ltd., a textile machinery manufacturer has named Batliboi Ltd, a marketer of textile machineries and equipment’s as a marketing partner for their stenters. According to a Batliboi statement, it will market the Motex brand stenter of Inspiron Engineering and also a recently developed energy efficient stenter, Sprinton, to be launched shortly in the Indian markets. Batliboi will also market Kaprec, a heat recovery system, which has also been developed and launched recently and provides higher efficiency than other competitive heat recovery systems in the market. According to Batliboi, a well-engineered and energy efficient stenter was what Batliboi was looking for, to complete their finishing machine product offering. “Therefore the idea of a marketing tie-up was initiated between these two textile companies, which eventually fructified on May 1, 2015,” it explained. “This also goes very well in line with the Batliboi belief and commitment to promote well-made Indian products,” the textile machinery marketer which has a network across India, added. The growing demand for stenters will be met by Batliboi with its strong marketing network all over the country, while Inspiron will offer an efficient country wide spares and service network. The Textile Machinery Group at Batliboi serves the spinning, knitting, processing, garment printing and technical textiles industries. Batliboi supplies the latest generation of equipment from companies like Saurer Schlafhorst, Mayer & Cie, Loptex, Loris Bellini, Mario Crosta, Ferraro, Ratti, Icomatex, Avioli, MHM, Brazzoli and PLM. Inspiron Engineering is the world’s largest manufacturer of high performance aluminium flyers having manufactured and sold over 3.5 million of these critical textile components around the world. Inspiron also manufactures stenters to process textile fabrics at its modern manufacturing plant at Ahmedabad, which is marketed under the name of Motex.

Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) is going to select its leadership for at least next two terms snatching away the voting rights of its members, sources said.  The country’s apex apparel body represents the largest foreign currency earner readymade garment (RMG) industry. The two groups-Sammilito Parishad and Forum-that compete for its leadership, in a meeting held on June 25 last came to a mutual consensus that they would select a single panel and the office-bearers for next two terms. All former presidents of BGMEA from both the groups were present in the meeting. The meeting formed a joint Board comprising BGMEA’s present and all former presidents but the name of the panel is yet to be finalised, they added. BGMEA vice president Md Shahidullah Azim and some of its former presidents confirmed it. “We have reached a consensus that no biennial election will take place for BGMEA leadership,” Anwar-Ul-Alam Chowdhury, a former president of BGMEA told the FE. According to the consensus, next president would be selected from Sammilito Parishad for the first two years while the chief would be selected from Forum for next two years’ tenure, he explained. Currently BGMEA is being run by a 27-member elected Board of Directors the members of which will be increased to 35. Four Vice Presidents – three from the capital city and one from the port city having important portfolios will assist the President. The meeting also decided that for next term, three vice presidents from Dhaka and one from Chittagong would be selected from Sammilito Parishad and the Forum would have three vice presidents – two from Dhaka and one from Chittagong, said Mr Azim.  The same would just be reversed for the second term, he added. Both the leaders, however, said they are yet to select the individuals. The Board will select them through discussion in line with the potential of interested candidates. Explaining the reasons behind the consensus, both the leaders argued that BGMEA needs strong leadership to face the present and future challenges due to the ongoing safety initiatives by the western retailers and the changes in the business dimensions. “We are yet to overcome the challenges surfaced after the Rana Plaza building collapse and more new ones are expected to emerge following the changes in the business patterns,” Mr Chowdhury said. Bangladesh is going to face tough competition as bilateral agreements among some countries including India and Vietnam with the EU and the US are expected to be signed, he said. Moreover, there are issues of labour, decent wage, US GSP (generalised system of preferences) and Bangladesh’s mid-income country status, he added. “We need to work together to help the sector to meet the challenges and flourish further,” he said. Replying to a question as to what would happen after the two terms, Mr Azim said the Board would select the office-bearers from the interested candidates. “If anyone wants, election might take place,” sources said. Industry insiders, however, expressed doubts whether the consensus would continue for long as the general members might not accept it for a long time. There was similar consensus in previous years too especially during the regime of care taker government, they said adding that such processes weaken accountability.   The tenure of the present BGMEA leadership, led by Md Atiqul Islam, has been extended to September and the election was scheduled to be held on September 8 next, sources said. But the mutual understanding between the two groups ruined the typical process of electing leadership by general members, some of the members alleged. BGMEA started with only 12 members in 1978 and presently has around 4,222 member factories, according to its official website. Around 40 per cent of BGMEA member factories are knitwear and sweater manufacturers, and the rest 60 per cent are woven garment manufacturers. BGMEA member factories account for 100 per cent woven garment exports of the country and more than 95 per cent of sweater exports, while around half of the light knitwear exports are made by them, according the website.

Garment makers aim to clear the salaries and allowances of their workers by July 15 to avoid any untoward incident before the Eid festival. “We have instructed our members to complete the payments by that time,” said Shahidullah Azim, vice president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association. Azim also said the factory owners will clear salaries by July 10 and festival allowances by July 15.Last year, nearly 2,000 workers of Tuba Group did not receive their salaries before Eid-ul-Fitr as the owner of the company—Delwar Hossain—was in jail in Tazreen Fashions fire case. BGMEA and the industrial police have made a list of 45 factories in Dhaka and 29 in Chittagong, which may fail to clear the payments in time due to a cash crunch, he told The Daily Star. “Our crisis management team is also monitoring the situation so that the workers are paid properly and timely,” Azim said. Eight regional committees in Dhaka, Savar, Ashulia, Narayanganj and Gazipur have been assigned to monitor the payment situation, Azim said. As their payments were not cleared, the workers of Tuba Group could not go to their village home during Eid-ul-Fitr last year, and observed hunger strike in front of the factory gate in Dhaka. “We don’t want any such incident this year. We have also communicated with the central bank so the bank branches remain open to help clear the payments before Eid.” The number of vulnerable factories in Dhaka and Chittagong will cross 150, said Sirajul Islam Rony, a former member of the minimum wage board for garment workers. “Most of the small and subcontracting factories may not pay the workers in time,” he said, adding that the labour leaders are also monitoring the payment situation. Bangladesh’s garment sector employs around 4.4 million workers.

Manufacturing is now an overwhelmingly salient component of the Bangladesh’s export composition, thanks largely to the rapid expansion of the garment industry. From a small base of only around US$ 32 million in 1984, garment exports have grown to around US$ 25 billion by 2014, accounting for more than three-quarters of export earnings. Garment has been an important contributor to growth and employment generation in Bangladesh. Female participation in the formal labour market underwent a major shift with the rise of the garment industry in Bangladesh. It provides direct employment to over 4 million people, 70 per cent of whom are female. More than 50 per cent of the manufacturing labor force is now employed in this sector, and the sector accounts for 30 per cent of the investment in manufacturing. Therefore, the story of the growth of the manufacturing sector in Bangladesh over the past two decades has been the story of the success of the garment sector. There is no denying the fact that the success story of the garment industry in Bangladesh lies in its comparative advantage generating from the country’s large pool of unskilled labor. Considering the fact that Bangladesh’s Asian neighbors and competitors such as India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and China also have large pool of unskilled labour, it is certainly astounding how Bangladesh has been able to retain its comparative advantage till date and has enjoyed continued export growth. While cheap labor has been the single most important advantage of Bangladesh, the local industry has flourished in spite of numerous challenges, e.g., high cost of doing business, weak infrastructure, weak governance, and labour unrests. There have been concerns with regard to the compliance issues and the work place safety in the garment industry in Bangladesh, and in the last couple of years these issues have become very critical for the future of this industry. There is strong international pressure, in the form of the threat of cancelling large preferences in the markets of Western countries, if labour conditions are not improved. Quality competitiveness is getting increased priorities over price competitiveness, and of course, quality of a product embodies the standard of living of labour being used in the production process. These concerns should be addressed in a positive way as an opportunity to build industry’s reputation in the global market. This calls for, among many other things, to deal with labor issues in the garment industry carefully. In this context issues like wage, workplace security, fringe benefits, workplace environment etc. need to be resolved on a priority basis. Current labor practices prevalent in the garment industry need to be improved in order to make the sector sustainable. Improvement of the labour condition is closely linked to the enhancement of the productivity of labour. There is equally a need to invest in training workers to move up to the higher value added garment products. The BGMEA and the government should collaborate with each other, with help from relevant international agencies, to be able to work effectively in this area. The garment industry of Bangladesh is now at a crossroad. It is now time to focus on how Bangladesh could retain its comparative advantage and continue its success story. Reliance on only the mass pool of unskilled labour doing things in the old way would be not sufficient. Careful examination of Bangladesh’s comparative advantage in the garment industry reveals the fact that the nature of this advantage is primarily static in nature. This suggests, retaining the static comparative advantage will be highly challenging in the future given the increased competition from other countries, growing stringent compliance issues, and the fact that to what extent the country will be able to enhance its competitiveness in doing business. Therefore the sector should aim for generating dynamic comparative advantage which would ensure sustainability of this sector in the future. There is a critical need for enhancing labour productivity, moving up to the higher value-added products through introducing new technology along the production line spurring innovation, and enhancing Bangladesh’s competitiveness by reducing the cost of doing business. It is also essential to keep in mind that comparative advantage doesn’t necessary translate into competitive advantage. Given an environment of high cost of doing business, in order to maintain the competitive advantage, there is a tendency of putting downward pressure on workers’ wages and benefits. In this context, for the workers’ welfare, there is a critical need for reducing the cost of doing business in Bangladesh. The garment industry is constrained by a host of such costs. High lead-time is an important challenge for this industry. Inefficiencies at ports and related internal road transportation further aggravate the problem. Amongst others, lack of investment fund and working capital, high interest rate, poor physical infrastructure, poor law and order situation, invisible costs of doing business, etc. are major impediments to export prospects. These factors will eventually determine the competitive advantage of Bangladesh’s garment industry and exports. Addressing these issues require strategic planning and its adroit implementation. The future of the garment industry will be critical for Bangladesh’s socio-economic development. Although the evidence on trade-growth and trade-poverty relationships as found in academic studies is still far from being conclusive, the growth of garment exports has been associated with the overall economic growth of the country accompanied by a remarkable progress on poverty alleviation. Even without going deep into such hotly debated subjects as whether the export sector has been the ‘engine’ of growth and to what extent the growth has been equitable to reach the poorest groups, it can be said that the garment-led export growth process has established a direct link between trade and poverty in Bangladesh by creating massive employment opportunities. And the sustainability of this industry also depends on how carefully and properly the issues related to the welfare of the workers are addressed.

Lectra, a developer of integrated technology solutions for industries using soft materials like fabrics recently held a seminar for Bangladeshi suppliers of retail chain H&M in Dhaka. “The two-day event addressed today’s trends and market challenges, putting special emphasis on the importance of working collaboratively across the supply chain,” a Lectra press release informed. Lectra experts demonstrated how synchronising technology and process between brands and manufacturers can ensure a long-term, sustainable working relationship that is more efficient and profitable. More than 100 people from 51 different companies attended the seminar, which was held at the Dhaka headquarters of the Swedish apparel retailer. The goal was to provide local industry players with insight into the challenges and priorities of a global retailer like H&M, whose production outsourcing to Bangladesh has steadily increased in recent years. “This put attendees in a better position to make strategic business decisions that strengthen their position as a preferred supplier for the fashion retail chain over the long term,” Lectra said. H&M’s decision to upgrade to the latest version of Lectra’s product development solution Modaris across its worldwide install base was the main catalyst for the event. Lectra experts took seminar participants through different scenarios that demonstrated the advantages of supporting product-development processes with technology that is aligned between retailers and suppliers. “When retailers and suppliers use different technology, the potential for information loss increases every time data is transferred from one party to another,” Judy Gnaedig, strategic account manager, Lectra said. “Working on the same technology not only improves productivity by eliminating redundant tasks, it also ensures that data remains intact and accurate throughout the product development process,” she added. “This protects product quality and fit, which is a tremendous competitive advantage,” Gnaedig observed. Lectra develops specialised software and cutting systems and provides associated services to a broad array of markets including fashion and automotive segments. Lectra serves 23,000 customers in more than 100 countries with 1,500 employees and reported 2014 revenues of $281 million.

The Clothing Manufacturers Association of India (CMAI) is organising India’s largest apparel trade show – The 61st National Garment Fair, from 29th June to 1st July, 2015, in Mumbai. CMAI president Rahul Mehta said the B2B Fair will be spread over approximately 5 lakh square feet, and will have more than 700 stalls displaying over 780 brands. Around 40,000 retailers from all over India are expected to visit the 3-day fair. For the first time, CMAI has invited e-commerce companies to participate. The total size of the domestic Indian apparel industry is estimated to be around Rs 2,00,000 crore. Of this, un-stitched garments like dhotis and sarees constitute Rs 50,000 crore. The size of organised retail of stitched garments is estimated at around Rs 40,000 crore, while the remaining 1,10,000 crore is unorganised. Mehta expects the size of Indian domestic apparel industry to double within next 5 years. In the previous financial year 2014-15, India’s garment exports increased by 12.2 per cent year over year to $16.8 billion. In rupee terms, the export value stood at Rs 1,03,000 crore, as against Rs 90,790 in the previous fiscal.