The government will work to remove in phases all the impediments identified by the stakeholders at the just-concluded Dhaka Apparel Summit to enable the sector to attain the golden goal of $50-billion export by 2021.
Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed conveyed the government pledge Saturday at a post-summit press briefing at the BGMEA headquarters in the city.
Representatives of country's apparel-makers, top global buyers, experts and policymakers had pinpointed nine core challenges on the way of getting to the goal.
Poor infrastructure, shortage of skilled manpower, higher cost of fund and lack of stable political environment and good governance are among the hurdles.
"Most of the garment factories will be compliant by 2018 and the sector will be able to fetch $50 billion worth of export earnings by 2021. And our government will do everything possible in this regard," Mr Tofail said.
A garment village will be set up at Shantirchar in Narayanganj on 1,000 acres only for BKMEA members while work is going on to build another garment palli at Bausia in Munshiganj, he informed the press meet.
BGMEA President Md Atiqul Islam, among other office bearers, and Alliance Managing Director M Rabin were also present.
Terming the summit a timely initiative, the minister hoped it would help uphold image of Bangladesh's apparel sector abroad.
Buyers and foreign representatives had the opportunity to see many compliant factories in Bangladesh during the Summit, which certainly changed their perception that was created following the Rana Plaza incident.
After the Rana Plaza tragedy, there was pressure on the local manufacturers to reduce the product price from the buyers and the Summit also called on the global buyers to increase the rates, he said.
Talking about the conditions set by the US and Sustainability Compact, he said, "The government has already taken necessary initiatives to ensure worker rights in the EPZs. "No further change would be made in this respect."
He, however, criticized the US for putting pressure on Bangladesh for allowing trade union in all garment factories. "The percentage of trade union in their (US) private sector is only seven. On the other hand, they are forcing us in this regard," he said.
"We have ratified all the nine ILO conventions in this regard while the US ratified only two--abolition of forced labour and child labour," the minister said.
During the last one year, more than 200 trade unions have been registered in the garment sector, he told the press about addressing a major compliance issue. Terming the Summit 'successful', Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) president Md Atiqul Islam said, "Through the event we were able to present some emerging issues, including the safety measures, before the global community, which will help in brightening image of the industry." Some 85 speakers attended the nine sessions on different current issues and high officials from 25 top global buyers, academics, local manufacturers, and donor agencies were present at the summit meet. The event was visited by about 15000 individuals.
The expo on safety equipment proved that Bangladeshi apparel-makers are now aware of fire, electrical and building safety needs and they have already invested millions of dollars in this respect to lift the compliance to global standards.
The suggestions that came from the summit will be presented in a book, which will help the sector get to the golden goal of $50-billion export, he said.
munni_fe@yahoo.com
Pledge to remove all hurdles to $50b export target
FE Report | Published: December 14, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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