Staff Reporter :
Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) President Faruque Hassan on Saturday said that the country’s readymade garment sector has been turned into a global role-model safe industry.
“Different international organizations are now admiring our steps to ensure safety for RMG workers, which is pride for the country,” said Faruque Hassan while speaking at a press briefing at the BGMEA’s Gulshan office on Saturday.
He said the BGMEA has been awarded the 2021 USGBC Leadership Award by the US Green Building Council (USGBC) for green initiatives in the apparel industry.
The BGMEA is the only organisation in the global apparel industry that got the award for innovations in sustainability for healthy, equitable and resilient buildings and communities during a virtual conference on Thursday, he added.
Earlier, QIMA, a Hong Kong based international organization, ranked Bangladesh as second position among ethical sourcing countries and Mckinsey & Company mentioned that Bangladesh’s RMG sector is a frontrunner in transparency regarding factory safety and value-chain responsibility.
These achievements are not only for the BGMEA but for all including, buyers, development partners, donors specially GIZ, IFC, ILO and diplomatic missions, Faruque said.
The BGMEA chief further said, “We have taken a lot of measures for ensuring safety for the workers of the RMG sector in the last one decade following the some unwanted incidents and the steps are now being admired by the international organisations.”
“BGMEA is relentlessly working for reducing gender discrimination, ensuring compliance and safety for workers. The sector has become able to bounce back due to our resilience, dedication and dynamism of the entrepreneurs,” he said.
“We are able to double our export earnings from the sector in the last ten years. Bangladesh’s export increased to $33.1 billion in 2019, which was $14.6 billion in 2011,” he said.
He further said that they are supporting its member factories for green initiatives in different ways, such as by organising workshops and disseminating information on green and sustainable production practices as they believe in ‘Actions should be louder than work.’
“BGMEA regularly does policy advocacy with the government for providing low-cost finance and tax benefits for green factories. Because of our advocacy a green factory now pays 10 per cent corporate tax while a conventional one pays 12 per cent,” he said.
“A good number of low-cost finance schemes have been formulated by the central bank following the BGMEA’s recommendations – such as the green transformation fund and the technology upgradation fund. These helped owners build green factories,” he added.
BGMEA sustainability cell provides free information, advocacy, and suggestions on how factories can connect with mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) engineering consultants, leadership in energy and environmental design (LEED) consultants, green architects, he said.
“Besides, the BGMEA maintains close collaboration with the USGBC to exchange data and information on green factories. It coordinates with certification bodies to smoothen the certification process or provide any other support that member factories may require,” he added.
“This year’s USGBC Leadership Award recipients are examples of leadership and innovation of the green building industry,” the BGMEA chief said.
Bangladesh now boasts the highest number of green apparel factories in the world. According to the USGBC, Bangladesh has 143 green factories, of which 40 are platinum rated. Besides, more than 500 are in the process of becoming green.
The country owns nine out of the top 10 environment-friendly garment factories in the world and also 39 of the top 100 global platinum factories are in Bangladesh.
In May 2012, Bangladesh’s Vintage Denim Studio was recognised as the first LEED platinum certified factory in the world.
