Bangladesh Government is working to modernise 208 readymade garment factories across the country into international-standard green buildings. The facilities will have safer working conditions, Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed said recently.
“Over 200 RMG factories will be turned into world-standard green factories with safe working conditions, meantime many Bangladeshi factories gained the status of Green ones by maintaining the international standards,” Ahmed said while addressing a programme on ‘Towards Sustainable Textile’.
The event was organised by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) at a hotel in capital Dhaka on Tuesday.
The Commerce Minister also added that after the collapse of Rana Plaza in 2013, the Government has taken multiple initiatives. The initiatives include safe building and fire safety arrangements to ensure sound and congenial working atmosphere in the country’s garment industry.
According to Bangladesh the Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) data, since 2011, a total of 67 Bangladeshi RMG factories have received LEED Certification from the US Green Building Council (USGBC), one of the top global green buildings rating systems.
Commenting on the RMG export target of US $ 50 billion by 2021, Ahmed underlined that there is a need to increase productivity, to fulfil this target.
“The RMG export earning has been increasing day-by-day, yet to achieve the US $ 50 billion target by 2021, the overall productivity needs to be upgraded,” he maintained.
The industry registered US $ 28.14 billion export earnings in the recently concluded 2016-17 fiscal year.
