The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) have signed a Strategic Partnership Agreement to advance the Improving Transparency for Sustainable Business (ITSB) Initiative in Bangladesh's Textile and Apparel sector, reports BSS.
Building on close collaboration since 2025, the formal signing of this agreement marks a significant step in institutionalizing the partnership between BGMEA and GRI under the multi-year ITSB Initiative.
As a Strategic Partner, BGMEA will provide sector leadership to advance a shared vision for transparent, responsible, and sustainable business practices in Bangladesh's Textile and Apparel sector. The collaboration will strengthen the capacity of businesses and wider stakeholders to identify, manage, and report their most significant sustainability impacts using the GRI Standards, complementing evolving investor-focused sustainability disclosure requirements with information on organizations' impacts on the economy, environment, and people, said a press release.
The partnership comes at an important time as Bangladesh continues to strengthen its sustainability disclosure architecture and align with evolving global reporting expectations.
For a sector deeply connected to international markets and value chains, credible sustainability reporting can help businesses respond to buyers, investors, regulators, workers, communities, and wider stakeholders, while supporting more informed decision-making on risks, opportunities, impacts, and long-term value creation.
The ITSB Initiative is designed as a multi-stakeholder capacity-building platform for businesses - including small, medium, and large enterprises - as well as regulators, industry associations, investors, and other national stakeholders.
The collaboration will include online and in-person dialogues, trainings, webinars, workshops, consultations, surveys, and other engagement activities during the initiative. The initiative will go beyond a single thematic focus and progressively address sector-relevant environmental, social, and economic impacts aligned with the GRI Standards.
The partnership also creates an important opportunity for Bangladesh's Textile and Apparel sector to contribute to global sustainability reporting developments. The ITSB Initiative is aligned with GRI's ongoing standard-setting work, including the Textile and Apparel Sector Standard, as well as projects related to Labor Topics and Economic Impact Topics.
