RMG: connecting the dots for further growth

Bangladesh's ready-made garment (RMG) industry has advanced rapidly in the last decade, increasing its annual export earnings from US$ 12.49 billion in fiscal year 2009-10 to US$ 42.61 billion in 2021-22. Such robust growth in the apparel sector, which helps Bangladesh achieve both international prowess and domestic prosperity, didn't come by chance. It has been possible mainly because of modernization and technological upgradation of factories over the past decade as well as the strides in workplace safety, environmental sustainability and compliance issues.
Since its inception, sustainability has always been a key strategic priority for the RMG industry of Bangladesh. In about four decades the industry has emerged as the lifeblood of the Bangladesh economy, accounting for more than 81 per cent of the country's export earnings.
The industry has successfully created a strong, impressive foothold in the global apparel value chain through unparalleled efforts in workplace safety and environmental sustainability. Sustainability is not only about fulfilling social, ecological and community obligations, it is also about how we remain economically viable through innovation, digitisation, diversification and being more productive.
Today, Bangladesh is globally acclaimed as one of the safest and most environment- friendly apparel- manufacturing countries in the world with the highest number of green factories certified by USGBC. We are also a front-runner in transparency, which adds unique ethical values to our products.
As a manifestation of excellence the industry has achieved, Bangladesh is now the second-largest garment manufacturer in the world with its products being exported to as many as 167 countries. However, we cannot let complacency set in, and efforts to scale up excellence must never stop. Attaining excellence is a continuous journey that never ends.
We are living in a complex world where the risks, challenges and prosperities are interconnected. The values and visions of global businesses are continuously being recalibrated from time to time, focusing on sustainability. As Bangladesh RMG sector aspires to become a leader in sustainable manufacturing, the industry is preparing itself for the next growth phase. Therefore, we have realigned our vision with ESG priorities.
Our beloved association, BGMEA or Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, which has been serving as the beacon for the industry for decades, needs to adopt changes in its philosophy, vision, missions, and in its corporate identity for even greater success. While we were redesigning our new logo and revisiting our vision, our first and foremost priority was to preserve the heritage of BGMEA. This organisation has provided the much-needed direction to the highest export-earning sector of Bangladesh through prudent and successive leaderships in our legacy.
Over the years, the industry has made tremendous strides on social and economic fronts and has been successfully transformed as responsible undertaking. Our successive leaders have directed this organisation through thick and thin in that process. That is what we wanted to keep intact and unchanged. Therefore, the fundamental colour pallet of the new logo has been kept unchanged. The difference is that now we have a story behind the colour and symbols of the logo.
Thus, BGMEA is emerging with the new logo, which is coded as nine-dots. The dots will connect the positive forces and stakeholders toward the common global goals to realign our business strategy with the changing landscape of global economy.
We have designed the nine-dot ensign in a way that when deciphered, the first dot means people come first. Our motto is to forever work for the well-being of the people of Bangladesh and humankind at large, inside and outside the industry. Here the underlying principle is to improve conditions for the country's approximately four-million garment workers, contribute to the national economy and improve the fate of the common people.
The second dot centres on inclusivity, which is already one of the hallmarks of Bangladesh RMG industry. Being the country's largest formal-sector employer, with around 60 per cent of our employees being women, we want to listen and to be approachable. We are open to involving people from across socioeconomic spectrum, without any form of discrimination.
The third dot is about transparency. Now Bangladesh is a frontrunner in transparency regarding factory safety and value-chain responsibility. Accountability and access to information are central to building a trustworthy, flexible and resilient organization. The fourth one is about infrastructure. In the last decade we made tremendous progress in making our factories safe, environment-friendly and employee-friendly. As a result, workplace mishaps have become a thing of the past in the RMG sector. But we cannot let our guard down. This underlying theme of the logo will continue to inspire us to build safe, sustainable and green factories having modern safety and security apparatus.
The fifth dot signifies innovation. To encourage us to innovate is key to our survival. The 4h industrial revolution has accelerated the process of automation and virtual prototyping. In order to keep up with the global trend, significant investment in skill development and R&D is already taking place in factories. While individual factories are working on their own to innovate and design high-end products for export, BGMEA has set up Centre for Innovation, Efficiency and OSH which will cater to the industry's quest for innovation and perfection.
The sixth dot is about circularity, which is very important for the conservation of natural ecosystem. As an eco-conscious industry we are increasingly focusing on shifting from a linear system to a circular system. Manufacturers, buyers and recyclers are making concerted effort to collect and reuse textile waste in Bangladesh.
The seventh dot is about strengthening our global network. It will motivate us to strive to be ahead in the world through innovation, pivots and flexible adaptions.
Branding Bangladesh is the focus of the eighth dot of BGMEA's new logo. Its aim is to convey what BGMEA represents and the vital role it plays representing and branding Bangladesh to the world.
And the ninth dot represents protecting the environment. It is a symbol of the respect BGMEA has for nature and its dedication to preserving the natural eco-system.
These nine dots in logo are the matrix of BGMEA's scope of work and influence. We have arranged the dots in columns sequentially to portray our journey from micro to macro, from action to impact, and from local to global. It is an organic transformation. The connection continues when we look at the nine dots in rows. The first three dots emphasise reach, second three emphasize transformation and the third three emphasize sustainability. These are nine dots, and together they represent BGMEA's new identity.
The RMG sector has still some distance to go, but the rewards are great. The global market trend exhibits huge opportunities for Bangladesh to expand its market share.
It seems the tide is in Bangladesh's favour on the international market. Besides, the level of progress we have made so far puts us in an advantageous position to expand our global market share. What we have to do is keep up our efforts to innovate, upgrade, and diversify. The day is not far away when we will be able to set an annual export target of US$100 billion from this vital sector.

The writer is President of BGMEA.
president@bgmea.com.bd