Apparel Online Bangladesh Magazine May Issue 2019 | Page 16

LEAD STORY
It’s time for low-
end manufacturing
to graduate to
the next level of
re-skilling...
Considering that some major
markets have failed to yield
the desired results despite the
potentials, the MD of Mohammadi
Group-turned BGMEA President
is in favour of FTAs specially in
Europe, Bangladesh’s second
biggest apparel export bastion.
“If Bangladesh has to qualify for
GSP plus there are at least 27
requirements which are more or
less governance issues that have
to be fulfilled. Under the given
circumstances, FTAs are another
route to explore opportunities in
individual markets,” says Rubana,
citing examples of a few such
names.
According to her, markets like Saudi
Arabia reportedly import over US
$ 3,000 million from the world and
yet source just US $ 75.61 million
worth of apparels from Bangladesh
at 5 per cent duty, while Russia
imports total of US $ 7,000 million
against that of US $ 427 million
from Bangladesh. China which has
zero import duty is no exception
either. Out of total US $ 7,560 million
imports, Bangladesh’s share is
reportedly mere US $ 391.64 million.
Same is the case with Brazil and
Mexico which respectively imports
only US $ 158 million out of total
import of US $ 1,794 million (against
a duty figure of 35 per cent) and US
$ 148 million out of total US $ 3,775
imports (with 20 per cent duty).
But will FTAs alone help capturing
these markets now that workers’
wages have increased substantially
(hiked by more than 50 per cent),
thereby shearing the country of its
competitive edge – the so-called tag
of ‘cheapest manufacturing hub’.
“We don’t want Bangladesh to
be the cheapest destination but
While
post-Rana
Plaza ushered in
a whole new era of
remediation, doubts
around sustainability
continue to haunt
the sector.
“Wage has to
be set based on
skills… And if
we are to do that
we would also
have to train our
workers to think
differently. The
wage-skill grid
must be practised
to assess the
basic efficiency
of the workers,
which would
translate into a
win-win scenario
for all.”
– Dr. Rubana Huq
Pilots could be
done to assess the
basic needs of the
industry and innovation
could follow our
industry needs.
competitive…,” asserts Rubana;
underscoring such an approach
if inculcated would help increase
productivity while addressing the
issue of wage hike effectively by
making a clear connection between
wage and productivity.
“Wage has to be set based on
skills… And if we are to do that
we would also have to train our
workers to think differently. The
wage-skill grid must be practised
to assess the basic efficiency of the
workers, which would translate into
a win-win scenario for all,” explains
Rubana driving home her point of
performance-based incentive to set
the ball rolling.
Having spelt out the roadmap to
tackle the five burning issues,
Rubana now gets down to elucidate
her recipe on sustainability (the
new focus area of retailers and end
users) and innovation, the one that
hinges on vital parameters of the
latest that technology has to offer.
“While post-Rana Plaza ushered
in a whole new era of remediation,
doubts around sustainability
continue to haunt the sector. The
common perception is that not all
of us want to sustain the positive
changes and, somehow the verdict
is always in favour of us being
monitored. Little do we make
it known that we have poured
in so much investment into our
production units that we now can’t
afford to see all that go waste,”
states Rubana.
It’s a well-known fact that
manufacturers have spent big to
make most up-to-date factories
that are at once safe and secure
while also being socially and
environmentally sustainable. The
results are here for everyone to
16 Apparel Online Bangladesh | MAY 2019 | www.apparelresources.com
see; Bangladesh today has the
second highest number of green
factories with some even scoring the
maximum in sustainability index
globally.
What it calls for now is to keep the
momentum going, which as per
Rubana, with the help of well-
meaning international brands,
unions and development partners,
the industry is more than capable of
doing. As to the monitoring part of
it, local engineers (who have worked
under various initiatives and have
complete knowledge of the sector as
well as the remediation process), is
what is required currently. Support
from the stakeholders, would just
add to the efforts, feels Rubana,
convinced that given the level of
maturity Bangladesh garment
sector has achieved, technological
intervention is what is needed to
graduate to the next level.
“It’s time for low-end manufacturing
to graduate to the next level of
re-skilling so that more jobs can be
created to address the intermediate
challenges. Pilots could be done
to assess the basic needs of the
industry and innovation could
follow our industry needs,” Rubana
explains, adding while interventions
like bio-printing are already in
use, it’s Bangladesh’s capability to
produce its machinery and spares
using the latest in technology,
which would be the next stage of
development and growth.
“It’s an era of innovation and
efficiency…,” winds up Rubana on
a positive note, giving an insight of
her developmental blueprint for the
industry not to mention her burning
desire to create an example out
of the Bangladesh RMG sector for
others to follow.