RMG makers confident of retaining global stake

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Nizam Ahmed Local manufacturers Sunday expressed strong confidence of retaining their stake in the apparel business across the globe as the second largest garment exporter after China. However, they criticised the role of some local and international rights groups, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and a section of media for tarnishing the image of the industry including the owners, workers and management. There is no doubt that the garment sector in Bangladesh is passing through hard times following the recent building collapse tragedy. But it is too early to jump into a conclusion that the sector is going to lose international buyers soon, said a leader of the Bangladesh Garment manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA). "The garment sector has started to come out of the severe shock amid growing international sympathy for the country, which has been thriving in the global garment trade over the last 30 years," BGMEA Senior Vice President Nasiruddin Ahmed Chowdhury told the FE. However, the ongoing concerted propaganda against the sector is posing a great threat to growth of garment exports in the western markets, he said. Local garment manufacturers and their buyers, mainly leading international brands and retailers, were subjected to severe pressure, as 1,127 workers died and scores turned disable following collapse of the eight-storey Rana Plaza at Savar on April 24. The pressure brewed from the international outcry has been so tremendous that even the European Union (EU) and the United States (US) have been compelled to threaten Bangladesh of possible imposition of trade sanctions unless safety standards are improved in the garment sector. However, the international outcry that erupted with the building collapse, especially among certain rights groups and labour organisations, has now toned down. Besides, supports from western buyers and think-tanks have started growing for Bangladesh garment sector. "Good news have started pouring in, as global traders and leading international think-tanks have started venting their support for the local garment sector," said Bangladesh Malaysia Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Syed Nurul Islam. "We are confident of overcoming the challenges that have grown following the recent disaster," added Mr Islam, also the chief executive officer of Well Group, a leading apparel exporter. "We need cooperation of media, intellectuals and administration in stopping propaganda against Bangladesh garment industry at home and abroad," said Adams Apparels managing director Shaidul Haque Mukul. "In response to the Rana Plaza tragedy many of the world's largest clothing retailers, such as H&M, Zara and Tesco, have signed a pact recently to help improve safety measures in the RMG units. However, some other global brands, such as Gap and Walmart, are yet to sign it," he said. The pact will make the signatories legally bound to assist Bangladesh in improving safety standards and protecting workers' rights in the garment sector for the next five years, he added. A leading Japanese newspaper Sunday observed that Japanese clothing companies should join this effort, not just for Bangladesh but for all the countries, where they outsource production for cheaper labour costs. "Ensuring the safety and well-being of workers, whether they are regular employees at home or subcontracted workers in another country, should be the basis of doing business, not an afterthought when disaster strikes," said the Japanese Times in its editorial. Last week the Conservative Group (CG), representing the United Kingdom, Italy, Belgium and seven other countries in the EU, expressed supports for continuation of duty-free and quota-free access of Bangladeshi products to the EU market. The Washington Post Wednesday pleaded the western buyers not to leave Bangladesh as an outsourcing country for ready-made garments and said: "Excluding Bangladesh from free trade will hurt workers." On the same day the world's leading think-tanks and trade monitors - the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and the Foundry - a publication of the Washington-based Heritage Foundation in their respective publications called upon the relevant Western governments and stakeholders not to leave Bangladesh at a time, when the country was trying to come out of the disaster cycle.