Swedish retailer Hennes & Mauritz AB (H&M), which sources garments worth US$ 5 billion from about 250 factories in Bangladesh annually, has recently called on its suppliers at a meeting to speed up remediation while reportedly expressing dissatisfaction over the rate of progress.
Also Read – No progress in remediation work in 171 RMG factories, say reports
“So far, 62 per cent of remediation has been completed,” stated Vice-President of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) Mahmud Hasan Khan Babu, who was present at the meeting, adding, “H&M officials urged suppliers to complete remediation as soon as possible. They told some suppliers to complete the process by May.”
The BGMEA Vice-President also underlined that even though the garment makers did not ask for any financial support in the meeting, some H&M suppliers have complained that the Accord engineers have set new rules for factory remediation.
Also Read – ‘H&M to source more garments from Bangladesh’
It may be mentioned here that according to a senior H&M official, the retailer would increase the volume of work orders for garment items from Bangladesh.
“H&M has maintained good relations with Bangladesh over the past 30 years. We have long term plans for Bangladesh. So we will continue business with Bangladesh,” Sustainability Manager of H&M in Germany Hendrik Heuermann reportedly told a group of Bangladeshi journalists, who visited his Hamburg office recently.
H&M, which is also the largest buyer for Bangladeshi apparel, has of late reportedly started sourcing from some new destinations such as Ethiopia and Myanmar as well.
“The company will use Ethiopia and Myanmar as the sources of basic garment items, as Bangladesh started producing value-added garment items like jackets, for upscale customers in the West,” Hendrik Heuermann reportedly said.
