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The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) wants to amend the Bangladesh EPZ Labour Act to allow for trade unions and other worker rights, which is also favored by US and European Union (EU) officials.
The garment industry’s governing organization believes that all sectors should have equal rights and the BGMEA is committed to maintaining worker due diligence and human rights.
BGMEA President Faruque Hassan was responding to questions from journalists at a press conference on Saturday in the capital.
“We believe that workers have rights to form trade unions everywhere, but the problem is the foreign investors, who invest in the Export Promotion Zones (EPZs), they don’t want this,” he added.
He also said that the government has set up the EPZ through the prescription of foreigners and the authority also provided some extra facilities to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).
“We also urged the Bangladesh Export Processing Zone Authority (BEPZA) to amend the law to grant rights to organize unions but foreign investors are interfering,” he added.
He also said that they are working on putting the “Bangladesh-e Toiri” tag in Bangla on the exported RMG products along with “Made in Bangladesh”.
“We are hopeful that from January 1, 2024, all RMG products manufactured in Bangladesh will have this text on the label,” he added.
Regarding the minimum wage board, he said that they’ve already submitted three names to the Labor Ministry in response to their requirement. Once the ministry forms, apparel manufacturers voluntarily embrace the new pay.
In response to a query, he stated that due to its graduation from the Least Developed Countries (LDC) category, Bangladesh will continue to benefit from Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) treatment from the EU, the United Kingdom, and other nations until 2029.
However, the trade association intends to prolong it at least until 2032, and the government is also backing their idea.
They have already met with the Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), senior EU officials and the UK’s appropriate authority in this regard.
“Our objective is clear, after LDC graduation we do not want to take the punishment (impose responsibility) due to the development trap. We might easily enter the global market as competitors if we can keep the GSP till 2032,” he said.
He also added: “Firstly, we are facing an economic crisis due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and secondly, Bangladesh accepted 1.3 million Rohingya refugees, which is one of the highest ever refugee acceptances in the world.”
Therefore the global community should increase the GSP tenure for Bangladesh considering these issues.
In response to another question, he said that businesses are not doing well.
“Our export to the US market has dropped, though we have tremendous growth in the new markets such as India, Japan, South Korea and the Middle East,” he added, saying that the growth in the export earnings in the first eight months of FY23 due to the raw material prices and high production costs.
He also said that the rise in gas prices and electricity prices is impacting the sector.
Moreover, global economic turmoil and inflationary pressures have curtailed the purchasing capacity and buyers have changed their sourcing patterns.
“Currently, they place orders in small slots which are hampering the production planning,” he added.
He said that Bangladesh has a huge potential in the circular economy, especially in recycling textile waste.
BGMEA is looking for foreign investors in the area and that is why they are seeking government policy support.
BGMEA Vice-President Md Nasir Uddin, Sparrow Group’s Managing Director Shovon Isalm and JFK Fashion’s Managing Director M Kafil Uddin Ahmed were also present at the press conference.
(DT)
