With US$22.8 billion annual exports, Bangladesh has the largest apparel export industry in South Asia, stated a World Bank report, ‘Stitches to Riches: Apparel Employment, Trade and Economic Development’, released recently.
It also maintained that the country performs ‘poorly in areas of compliance, quality and reliability’, adding that ‘wages and working conditions have long been a source of concern’.
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The report also underlined that the garment industry, given improved productivity, product quality and reliability, alongside better safety and industry compliance, can gain from price-hike of China’s apparel exports, besides underlining its potential in creating job opportunities.
“Bangladesh stands to gain greatly in terms of jobs from additional apparel exports….The apparel sector in Bangladesh tells a remarkable story of women’s empowerment by significantly increasing female participation in the labor force,” said World Bank Country Director Qimiao Fan, adding, “The potential decrease in Chinese exports presents a huge opportunity for Bangladesh, if it can meet global buyers’ requirements for cost, quality, lead time, reliability and compliance with safety standards and other policies.”
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The report also mentioned that following the Rana Plaza incident in 2013, Bangladesh’s apparel industry — in collaboration with the Government, foreign buyers and development partners — has agreed on several policy measures to improve factory safety and social compliance, but maintained that negotiating collective bargaining agreements is still very difficult.
“Female workers in particular lack voice and representation in the country’s weak industrial relations system. And regulatory capacity is generally weak because of underfunded, understaffed, and underequipped labor ministries, inspectors, and courts,” the report observed.
