Home ›› 11 Dec 2022 ›› Business Connect
Nearly a decade has passed since the unprecedented Rana Plaza tragedy, which cast a huge shadow on Bangladesh’s readymade garment sector and changed the clothing industry’s narrative as equal to an unsafe workplace.
Questions were raised about workplace safety and workers’ rights, leaving Bangladesh facing tougher challenges while rebuilding from its tarnished image. However, resilient entrepreneurs were not sitting idle while facing high pressure from rights groups and brands to make the industry safer.
The tragedy was a wakeup call for the sector as brands and buyers along with development partners came forward with support to make the industry sustainable and safer.
Since then, Bangladesh has scripted history towards a green revolution, a sustainable and safer industry. Here, exporters care about the environment and practice sustainability and circularity.
Bangladesh’s apparel industry today is a new one where manufacturers care about worker rights, health and well-being with a healthy and safe workplace.
The apparel sector’s transformation from a trouble-stricken industry to a safer one is a miracle, and that story of transformation and success of the second largest apparel exporting country was shared with the global community and brands during the “Made in Bangladesh Week” held in November in Dhaka.
The weeklong first-of-its-kind programme was organised by the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), in partnership with Bangladesh Apparel Exchange (BAE), to promote the country’s apparel industry internationally.
The mega event showcased impressive stories of the sector, especially its remarkable strides in the areas of workplace safety, environmental sustainability and workers’ wellbeing.
It also exhibited the RMG industry’s strengths, capabilities and future priorities to remain a preferred and competitive choice for global buyers to reach its $100 billion exports target by 2030.
Outcome
“We organised Made in Bangladesh week with three core objectives,” BGMEA President Faruque Hassan said while talking to the Business Post.
“First, branding Bangladesh with a holistic approach to the global community mostly through showcasing the transformation and development made in the areas of workplace safety, workers’ rights, environment and sustainability in the past decade.
“Secondly, identifying challenges and obstacles in attaining the goals of Vision 2030, preparing a sustainable roadmap in consultation with the stakeholders and engaging stakeholders with the implementation process,” he said.
“Third, establishing a strong network with stakeholders, including government, brands, retailers, suppliers of raw materials, technologies, machinery and accessories, to build a sustainable supply chain,” he added.
Faruque continued, “To this end, I believe the event was a success, as global apparel leaders, brands, buyers and experts joined and put their valuable recommendations to grow further and retain the progress our industry has already achieved.”
Fashion Innovation Runway Show
During Made in Bangladesh Week, 12 manufacturers showcased innovative products in a wearable manner through separate fashion shows — presenting a new Bangladesh to global buyers and brands.
“From the very beginning of the apparel industry, Bangladesh’s RMG exporters have been manufacturing products designed and developed by the brands and buyers,” Sparrow Group MD Shovon Islam told the Business Post.
“Over time, however, the pattern has changed a lot and local manufacturers now are capable of developing new designs and making products,” he added.
Now, exporters have their research and innovation teams. All the products showcased on the runway during the mega event indicated the strength of Bangladeshi manufacturers,’ from cutting and making to designing and developing, he said.
Shovon also stressed that these products were produced responsibly and in the most sustainable manner, where environmental issues were cared for.
Apparel Expo
After the 23rd Bangladesh Apparel and Textile Exposition in 2012, BGMEA organised a two-day apparel exhibition to showcase the country’s apparel, textiles and other related products under one roof.
At the event, manufacturers of RMG, fabrics and yarn, accessories, machinery, and chemical suppliers displayed the latest developments.
The wide range of value-added apparel products had attracted visitors mostly from top brands and retailers from nations that have developed sustainably.
“Bangladesh has gone through a massive transformation in terms of product design and development in the past decade. The objectives of the Made in Bangladesh Week were to rebuild the country’s image to the global retailers by presenting the progress,” Snowtex Managing Director (MD) SM Khaled told the Business Post.
The company exhibited its different types of value-added goods designed and developed with homegrown designers and resources, he said.
“We have also shown our strength in automation and use of technology to produce quality goods,” he added.
Green factory tour
Bangladesh has the highest number of green factories in the world. There are 178 green garment factories certified by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). Of them, 58 are in the Platinum category, 106 in Gold, 10 in Silver, and four are certified.
These factories use energy-efficient and environment-friendly technology and practices that save water and energy and minimise pollution.
During the Made in Bangladesh Week, the organisers arranged a daylong tour for attendees to visit the eco-friendly factories to show the industry’s in-depth progress.
Visiting these green factories gave them first-hand experience in sustainability and eco-friendly manufacturing as wondrous initiatives and standards of sustainability practices, circularity and care for the environment came to light during the tour.
“It was an amazing opportunity to experience RMG makers’ innovative technology and green initiatives to make the industry sustainable,” said Lavinia Muth, former corporate responsibility manager of Germany-based ARMEDANGELS (Social Fashion Company GmbH).
“Today’s RMG industry is far better and transformative, which is beyond our imagination,” she said, praising medical facilities, daycare facilities and fair-price shops for workers in different factories.
She also expressed satisfaction after observing the technology such as less use of chemicals and electricity after visiting Tarasima and Snowtex.
Bangladesh Denim Expo
Meanwhile, within nearly 10 years, Bangladesh has become the number one sourcing destination for denim products. Bangladesh Denim Expo has acted as a catalyst to cement a strong foothold in the global denim market.
Talking to The Business Post, the Expo’s Founder and CEO Mostafiz Uddin said, “I decided to organise the Bangladesh Denim Expo because I felt like something was missing when it came to branding Bangladesh and presenting our innovation, development and capacity to the global buyers.”
The first edition of the expo took place between November 11 and 12 in 2014 at the Radisson Blu Dhaka Water Garden in the capital.
“In each edition, through several themes, the expo talked about the industry’s safety, which presented a clear picture of the development the industry had already made to ensure a safe workplace,” he said.
For the first time, the Denim Expo introduced new topics such as circularity, fashion technology, sustainability, innovation and green technology to brand Bangladesh. Now, it’s the reality and practice here, he said.
“Circularity is the most spoken word in the clothing industry and it’s a theme for bringing positive changes into the whole denim supply chain management in the apparel and clothing sector,” added Mostafiz.
“The expo branded Bangladesh and its apparel industry. We brought a good number of renowned brands and retailers and showed them our capacity and made the country popular as a sourcing hub for denim products,” he stressed.
“During several of our expos, retailers and brand representatives visited factories and saw the progress, research and development work, which gave them the confidence to place more work orders,” he explained.
“The first achievement is that Bangladesh is now the number one denim exporter. Our second aim is to make Bangladesh known to people who still don’t know about us.
According to the Office of Textiles and Apparel of the United States, Bangladesh holds a 21.69 per cent market share of total US imports of $3.68 billion.
Bangladesh also holds a 26.82 per cent market share in the European Union denim imports of $4.40 billion, shows data from Eurostat.
What global leaders say
Representatives of global apparel leaders and buyers have witnessed the first-hand experience of progress in Bangladesh’s apparel industry and testified to it.
“Global climate change is now at an alarming level, and the apparel sector is producing a huge amount of carbon. Bangladesh will be able to take advantage of any climate policy the western nations adopt because its readymade garment industry has already begun the transformation towards sustainability,” said International Apparel Federation President Cem Altan.
The country has 178 LEED-certified RMG factories under the US Green Building Council and 500 more are awaiting certification, said Altan, who attended the Made in Bangladesh Week last month.
“European consumers are particularly focusing on sustainability and the business model should be sustainable. There are challenges such as social crisis and innovation,” said Inditex Chief Sustainability Officer Francisco Javier Losada Montero.
He said, “Innovation should be a major tool to overcome the challenge, while technology could be a source of innovation. Bangladesh is in the process of coping with the technology and marching towards research and innovation.”
Bangladesh has to move towards sustainable raw materials and become more efficient in using energy, water and other natural resources and protect bio-diversity to move towards further growth, he added.
Rita Lohani, the director for operations at Walmart Sourcing, Bangladesh, said, “Production process is changing rapidly because of technology. We are working to meet the diverse needs of customers and provide value to customers.
“We should think about how to produce more products using less natural resources. It is important to ensure a business environment to attract foreign direct investment and to give a boost to investors’ confidence.”
It is a great development in Bangladesh, that it is harvesting rainwater, going sustainable manufacturing through green-certified factories, she added.
Future directions
More than 70 renowned international speakers participated in the two-day Dhaka Apparel Summit last month, where they gave important advice on industrial matters that would help Bangladesh in creating a roadmap for the industry and the economy in the days to come.
More than 1,100 people from home and abroad joined the summit, held as part of Made in Bangladesh Week, to learn about the latest developments in the fashion industry. The summit provided industry people with new lessons and direction to grow further as speakers came up with their views on the industry’s future.
“The future direction of the industry will be largely dependent on data and the Fourth Industrial Revolution,” Anne-Laure Descours, the chief sourcing officer at Puma, said in her key-note presentation at the summit.
“We have to care about sustainability and the environment. It is essential. And this is possible only with the cooperation and united efforts of buyers and suppliers,” she said.
At the first day’s first session titled, “RMG Sector to Roadmap: Towards a Transparent and Prosperous Future,” Rita Lohani said: “Bangladesh emphasised issues such as sustainability, development of workers’ skills and development of business environment and strong judicial system and practice.”
To address the challenges of LDC graduation, Bangladesh prime minister’s Principal Secretary Ahmad Kaikaus said, “To be competitive in the global market after 2026, we need to reduce business costs by at least 10-12 per cent.”
He said that the government’s LDC sub-committee has prepared six working papers on various issues for a smooth and sustainable transition.
Clothing industry
In FY2021-22, export earnings from RMG products rose sharply by 35.47 per cent to $42.61 billion, which was $31.45 billion in the previous fiscal year.
Clothing product exports contributed 81.81 per cent to total exports of $52 billion.
Of the $42.61 billion, knitwear products fetched $23.21 billion, up by 36.88 per cent from the previous fiscal year’s $19.91 billion, while woven items earned $19.39 billion and registered a 33.82 per cent growth.
The RMG sector employs over 4.4 million people, of which about 65 per cent are women mostly from rural areas.
The sector meets 85-90 per cent of raw materials for the knitwear sector and 45-50 per cent of the woven sector. Local accessories manufacturers can meet 95 per cent of demands. Export earnings from the home textile sector also rose sharply in FY22 and stood at $1.62 billion.
