The Technical University of Dresden (TUD) – a public research university and one of the top 10 largest universities in Germany – will provide technical and knowledge support to the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association or BGMEA's Centre of Innovation, Efficiency and Occupational Safety and Health (CIEOSH).

As part of the collaboration, a delegation from TUD came to Dhaka Sunday and attended the kick-off workshop of the Inno Lead@Work "Fostering Innovation, Performance and Resilience through Leadership and Modern Work-Design" Project jointly implemented by BGMEA, TUD and GIZ HELD.

It also met BGMEA President Faruque Hassan and talked about how BGMEA, TUD and GIZ could work together to develop CIEOSH.

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Through Inno Lead@Work, BGMEA, TUD and GIZ HELD will team up to develop CIEOSH, its curriculum and standard operating procedure (SOP) through research that will include three studies – IC Study, training study and Dhaka study.

Professor Jurgen Wegge, Professor Petra Kemter-Hofmann, and Professor Lars Fritzsche from TUD, along with Christian Bochmann, project manager of GIZ HELD, joined the workshop.

BGMEA Vice-President Miran Ali and GIZ Bangladesh Textile Cluster Coordinator Werner Lange were also present.

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Faruque Hassan emphasised the importance of innovation and technological upgrades in the apparel industry of Bangladesh to facilitate its transition towards a higher level of competency for sustainable growth.

He thanked the TUD and GIZ for their support which "would play a vital role in making the CIEOSH an innovative and effective centre of knowledge that would contribute to the development of the readymade garments industry in the coming days."