“RMG workers are the inseparable part of the development of Bangladesh”- FBCCI President

Washim Mia, Staff Correspondent: “RMG workers are the inseparable part of the development of Bangladesh”- said Md. Shafiul Islam (Mohiuddin), President of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) while addressing on the first ever national seminar on ‘Social Compliance in the Readymade Garments Sector of Bangladesh’, organized by the Department of Industrial Relations and Labour Studies, specialized Masters program, yesterday, 6 January 2018, at the auditorium of the Institute of Social Welfare and Research, University of Dhaka, the highest echelon of academic excellence in Bangladesh. Professor Dr. Golam Rabbani, Program Coordinator of the Industrial Relations and Labour Studies, chaired the inaugural program.

Special guest Mohammed Nasir, Vice President (Finance)-BGMEA, said, “The readymade garment industry of Bangladesh is the lifeblood of the country’s economy. Though it started in the 80s in an unplanned way, it is now a role model in the world in terms of workplace safety and social compliance. Bangladesh faced a lot of obstacles after the Rana Plaza and Tazreen Fashion had collapsed. But she has god rid of all those misfortunes”.

He also said, “Bangladesh has the top 7 greenest factories out of 10 in the world selected by the US Green Building Council. The country has overall 67 green factories in production and 280 more are waiting to be UGBC’s certification. Today, this industry is not an individual asset, rather this is a national as a whole. This RMG sector is the centre point of the economy of Bangladesh”.

“Bangladesh has a development in compliance by almost 100 pc. Specialized hospital is opened for the RMG workers of Chittagong to ensure the service their health and safety. Besides, another specialized hospital of BGMEA in Mirpur, Dhaka is in progress. 0.03 pc of the total RMG export earning is being deposited to workers welfare fund which will be consumed for their development. We hope, this year 80 crore taka will be deposited in that fund” he added.

He said, “Our Honorable Prime Minister is trying hard and soul to take Bangladesh forward but the barriers are being faced on the way to it are investment and employment. Foreign higher officials are snatching millions of dollars from our RMG sector only for not having proper technical or industry related higher educational system. Bangladesh is the 5^th best remittance earning source for India. This is because in Bangladesh still efficient manpower is a vague term”.

While addressing as the chief guest Md. Shafiul Islam (Mohiuddin), President, (FBCCI), said, “To make efficient manpower in RMG sector we have to introduce new sector based curriculum. The learners have to be built up accordingly what the sector demands”.

“RMG workers are the inseparable part of the development of Bangladesh. We have assured a huge compliance but there are still some self-seekers who are responsible for splattering the weak zones of our country in home and abroad. We have to give up our flamboyant journalism and change our outlook. We had to pay a huge price in our international market for the negative journalism of Rana Plaza and Tazreen Fashion, lost billions of dollars, lost self-confidence also. But we have turned back, we have strengthened our feet once more. We don’t want to slip again.” he added.

He also appreciated the Institute of Social Welfare and Research, University of Dhaka and urged them to build up more efficient Human Resource by providing industry related higher educational system.

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Professor Dr. Tania Rahman, Director of Institute of Social Welfare and Research, Dhaka University, Shibbir Mahmud, President of Bangladesh Label Manufacturers & Exporters Association, and Ali Hossain Shishir, Managing Director & CEO of Sonali Group were also present as Special Guests at the program which was followed by two seminars.

The second session of the program was chaired by Professor Dr. Abu Taher, Institute of Social Welfare and Research (ISWR), University of Dhaka. The main focus of the session was “Situation of the Social Compliance in the Readymade Garment (RMG) Sector of Bangladesh: An Overview”. Md. Mainuddin Mollah, Assistant Professor, ISWR, DU and Md. Ashraful Alam, Assistant Professor, ISWR, DU unmasked a research study. Then, the study was explained and elaborated by Syed Sultan Uddin Ahmmed, Executive Director, BILS and Mr. Abdul Alim, Editor, RMG Times.

The last session titled “Role of Accord and Alliance for making sustainable RMG sector in Bangladesh” was also held which was chaired by Professor Dr. Md. Golam Azam, Industrial Relations and Labour Studies (IRLS), ISWR, DU. In this session one more research report was presented by Tamanna Sarwar, Senior Manager, Global Sustainability, GAP Inc. and Md. Omar Faruq Alin, Advisor, Capacity Building, ALDI Services Asia Ltd. Thereafter, the report was illustrated by Dr. Uttam Kumar Das, Advocate, Bngladesh Supreme Court and Amirul Islam, CEO, Quality Evaluation Services International (QESI).

The program ended with a spectacular cultural function where there was a blazing display performed by the students of University of Dhaka.