The uproar created by the TIB report on alleged malpractices in Bangladesh’s RMG supply chain shows little sign of fading, with the country’s Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed recently suggesting that legal proceedings be initiated against TIB for what he termed as ‘false, motivated and imaginary’ reports on Bangladesh’s readymade garment industry.
Also Read – ‘Bangladesh-EU Joint Business Council’ set to be launched, says Tofail Ahmed
Speaking as the chief guest at the closing ceremony of the seventh international garments accessories and packaging exposition titled ‘Gapexpo-2016’ in Dhaka, Tofail reportedly said, “TIB is trying to harm the country’s garment industry by presenting untrue, imaginary and motivated information,” and went on to advice that a case be filed against TIB, accusing it of ‘carrying out a motivated and intentional campaign against the industry’.
Also Read – Irregularities rampant in Bangladesh’s RMG supply chain: Study
The Commerce Minister reportedly also alleged that the TIB was carrying out negative campaign intentionally and ‘in a very planned way’ to project a negative image of Bangladesh and its garment industry to the foreigners and foreign buyers.
It may be mentioned here that Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) making public the findings of its report in a press conference recently pointed towards widespread malpractices in the RMG supply chain of the country. The report underlined that bribery has become a regular practice to hide lapses in standard of goods, quantity and compliance and went on to add that corruption prevailed in all the three phases of supply chain, namely work order, production and supply, in which factory owners, merchandisers and buyers were involved.
“Everyone is involved in irregularities in lesser or larger measure. It is unfair to pull up Government official only. Buyers, agents, and other linked to this sector cannot shrug off their responsibility,” stated Executive Director of TIB Iftekharuzzaman while releasing the report earlier.
