Apparel Online Bangladesh Magazine November Issue 2018 | Page 51

SUSTAINABLE BD
Bangladesh bats for greener apparel industry
The Bangladesh Government
has undertaken initiatives
of mass reforms for going green
in the existing industries of the
country, including its top earning
readymade garment industry,
Industries Minister Amir Hossain
Amu said at a recent conference.
“We are pursuing green financing
and green banking policy to
finance low-carbon and resource-
efficient small and medium
enterprises and the supply value
chains of our RMG industry,”
Minister Amu said at the 5th
Green Industry Conference for
Sustainable Development in
Bangkok recently.
“Our Government has set up 100
eco-friendly special economic
zones with state-sponsored green
industrial standards for ETP
(Effluent Treatment Plant) and
water treatment plants,” he said,
according to a press release
issued from Bangladesh embassy
in Bangkok.
He added that Bangladesh’s
‘Green industry and sustainable
development philosophy’ is inspired
by the ‘Golden Bengal’ vision of the
father of the nation Bangabandhu
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and
Vision 2021 of Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina.
The minister also spoke at the
ministerial panel discussion on
‘Regional perspectives on green
industry policy’. Ministers from 15
Asian countries and the Pacific,
including Myanmar, Lao PDR,
Cambodia, Albania, Armenia,
Mongolia and Thailand, took part in
the event.
Later in the afternoon, Amu held
a bilateral meeting with Li Yong,
Director General of the UNIDO,
at the UNESCAP secretariat.
The minister thanked the UNIDO
for its sustained partnership
with Bangladesh for the last two
decades. Saida Muna Tasneem,
Bangladesh Ambassador
to Thailand and Permanent
Representative to the UNESCAP,
and AM Mansurul Alam, Additional
Secretary of the Ministry of
Environment, were also present 
at the meet.
PVH Corp. and Zlabels work towards living
wages by joining ACT initiative
PVH Corp. – a leading American
clothing company, and Zlabels – a
German fashion firm, are the latest
to join the Action, Collaboration,
Transformation (ACT) initiative
aimed at achieving living wages
for workers in the global garment
and textile industry. The two
firms have signed a memorandum
of understanding (MoU) with
the IndustriALL Global Union,
bringing the total number of ACT
member companies to 20.
The contract between global
brands, retailers and unions aims
to achieve living wages in the
garment and textile sector
through industry-level collective
bargaining that is linked to
purchasing practices.
ACT members recently met
representatives of trade unions
and employers in Cambodia to take
a note about the progress towards
negotiating an industry collective
agreement. Myanmar, as well as
Cambodia, are pilot countries for
the ACT initiative.
A comment from IndustriALL
suggested that there is a strong
commitment from both sides so
as to reach on an agreement and
trigger the commitments made by
ACT brands to ensure that their
purchasing practices support the
collective agreement.
Moreover, ACT brands
now together source from
factories providing employment
to 50 per cent of Cambodia’s
garment workers.
H.E. Dr Ith Samheng, Minister of
Labour and Vocational Training,
supported the initiative by stating
that the participation of the buyers
is essential in order to ensure that
they continue to work together
for long-term with the suppliers
in Cambodia.
relations and sector development.
In addition to this, the ACT
delegation recently visited
Myanmar where the Ministry of
Labour hosted a meeting with
garment industry employers and
trade unions to discuss how to
move the ACT process forward. Many participants from factories,
unions and Government were
also present at the meeting. They
discussed the opportunities that
ACT can bring to Myanmar by
building stable and predictable
industrial relations through
collective bargaining, industrial
upgrading and integrating into
the global economy as well as
meeting the skill requirements.
U Myo Aung, Permanent Secretary,
Ministry of Labour, Immigration
and Population provided an
overview of Government’s
vision for industrial and
social upgradation of Myanmar’s
apparel industry. ACT trade union
along with brand representatives
presented the potential
contribution of ACT to industrial PVH Corp. is the first company
to join the initiative and is the
parent company of Tommy
Hilfiger, Calvin Klein and other
brands. ZLabels is a collection of
German brands sold online. Other
well-known retailers including
Bestseller and Cotton On also
joined the pioneering initiative in
May this year.
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