Significant progress in RMG, but much more to be done: Germany

Bangladesh has made a significant progress in improving the overall working conditions in the country's readymade garment (RMG) sector, but still much more needs to be done, said German state secretary for the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare Jorg Asmussen.
"The country has made some important progress, especially in case of fire safety and workplace environment," said the German state secretary highlighting the urgency for addressing workers' rights and maintaining social and ecological workplace environment.
Asmussen, also a former Deputy Finance Minister, was talking to a group of journalists at a local hotel on Thursday and shared his experiences during his three-day visit to Bangladesh.
During his stay, he met ministers, government officials, development agencies, labour leaders and visited Rana Plaza site, rehabilitation centres and a number of factories to see for himself the working environment.
According to Asmussen, the situation has improved but not that much, as claimed by some quarters and  efforts need to be continued to attain a sustainable, eco-friendly apparel industry.
"Customers in developed countries want to know about the workers' environment where dresses are produced," said the high official also stressing the need for implementing laws, especially the labour law accordingly.
He, however, pointed out lack of progress in the field of labour unions, some cases of violation of labour rights and harassment of labour activists who are attempting to exercise their rights.
"We are consistently monitoring the situation," said the state secretary calling for giving more attention to sustainable and inclusive development.
When asked about the country's overall political situation, he declined to comment but hoped that development would take place through exercise of democratic practices.
He said, Germany wants to see a very strong social and eco-friendly apparel industry in Bangladesh.
The GIZ, an international enterprise owned by the German Federal government and operating in many fields across more than 130 countries, is supporting RMG factories in making their workplaces socially and environmentally sound and state-of-the-art processing units.
Germany is the second largest export market for Bangladesh after the United States.
In last fiscal (2013-14), Bangladesh exported goods worth about US$ 5.303 billion to Germany, about 85 per cent of which was readymade garments. On the other hand, Bangladesh's import from Germany was only US$ 582.9 million in 2013-14.
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