Apparel Online Bangladesh Magazine Magazine April 2018 | Page 10

MINDTREE Q-and-A The International Labour Organization has once again reportedly asked Bangladesh to ensure robust labour laws so as to meet the ILO convention rules… Since labour-related issues continue to be a major concern area among all the stakeholders, what according to you need/s to be done to address this problem? Khokon Chandra Kundu Director Marketing, AKR Group Actually I don’t know much about the ILO convention rules. But according to what I know, to maintain the international standards, manufacturers have to get 20-30 certificates related to compliance. Among these certificates, labour issue is one of the significant areas. Besides, our Government has also become very strict about the labour laws and issues pertaining to the workforce to showcase its determination about projecting the industry as labour-friendly. We do respect the ILO and its rules. In fact organizations like BSEC, Oeko- Tex or buyers like JCPenney, Walmart, etc, have their own set of guidelines on labour issues. These guidelines include local labour laws of Bangladesh as well as the international standard requirements. However, to be honest, some of the points described in the ILO guidelines have not even been addressed by the ILO itself in some of its own branches. For example, they asked us not to operate business in any shared-building but I saw in Dhaka that Walmart operates its local office in a shared-building. So what is ILO’s take on this? Md. Ashikur Rahman (Tuhin) CEO & Managing Director, Texweave I am not sure if I am the right person to address this sensitive issue. I think the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) is the right body to answer this question. Nevertheless, I from my end would like to maintain that both the Government and the BGMEA are very keen to ensure the fulfilment of the basic requirements of ILO convention rules. I think the concerned authority is working on it and let’s see what comes out. Mir Gulzar-A-Alam CEO, Western Fashion Tex & Sourcing If Bangladesh Government becomes keen to formulate a robust labour law, I think they can do it quite easily. But it is really sad that the Government has very little or no intention to formulate a business and labour-friendly policy to promote the apparel industry. The developments within the industry have been occurring due to the self-motivated efforts of the owners. The Government is actually doing nothing in terms of reshaping the industry. It’s not a good sign for the industry which is looking forward to achieve US $ 50 billion export earnings by the end of 2021. I think beside the manufacturers or the garment factory owners, the Government and the trade bodies including BGMEA, BKMEA need to take massive steps immediately to formulate an effective labour law to take the industry one step ahead. Engineer Elias Hossain, MD, Exploretex Fashion Mfg. Co. & Summer Fashion Ltd. From the perspective of a small manufacturer, I would say that the Government is doing a good job to ensure adherence to labour rights and workers’ safety. The ILO has been working in this industry for quite a long time and I think the Government and BGMEA can formulate a labour law within a short time to satisfy the international stakeholders including the ILO. Since our business depends heavily on foreign buyers, the international requirements should be fulfilled on priority. POST YOUR COMMENTS www.apparelresources.com [email protected] NEXT MINDTREE QUESTION Of late, there has been a lot of focus on non-traditional markets with increasing number of exporters/manufacturers diverting their attention to new export destinations to diversify the market dependence. Are there any new/non-traditional market(s) that you are catering to and what is your opinion on its/their potential(s)? Please share your views… 10 Apparel Online Bangladesh | APRIL 2018 | www.apparelresources.com