The European Union's apparel imports saw a 3.63% decline from January to August 2024 compared to the same period in 2023, reflecting a broader global trend of reduced apparel consumption. According to the latest data, total imports dropped from US$ 61.56 billion to US$ 59.32 billion. Bangladesh, one of the leading apparel suppliers to the EU, experienced a 3.53% decrease in exports, with the value of shipments falling to US$ 12.91 billion during this period, according to former BGMEA Director Mohiuddin Rubel. Chinese Textile & Apparel Industry delegation visits BEPZA This decline mirrors the overall drop in EU apparel demand but raises questions about shifting dynamics in global supply chains. China, the largest exporter to the EU, saw its apparel imports decrease by 4.10% to US$ 15.62 billion. Other key suppliers like Turkey and India also faced declines, with Turkey’s exports down by 7.52% to US$ 6.84 billion and India’s down by 2.73% to US$ 3.34 billion. Vietnam reported a 2.09% decrease, with exports totaling US$ 2.65 billion. USITC delegation meets BGMEA leaders, discuss Bangladesh's standing and competitiveness in global apparel market In contrast, some countries bucked the downward trend. Cambodia's exports to the EU surged by 12.78%, Pakistan saw a 7.3% increase, and Morocco experienced a 6.09% rise, signaling a potential shift in sourcing preferences within the global apparel market. These variations among key suppliers suggest nuanced changes in global apparel supply chains.

Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei Technologies is willing to provide technical solutions and support to the RMG industry of Bangladesh in increasing the capacity of renewable energy generation in the sector, says BGMEA on Thursday. A delegation of Huawei Technologies (Bangladesh) Ltd met President of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters association (BGMEA) Faruque Hassan at BGMEA’s Gulshan office recently and expressed their interest. The Huawei delegation included Li Zongsheng (Jason), Board Member;  Liang Weixing, Managing Director for Digital Power Business Group; Najia Samantha Islam, Manager, Public Affairs and Communications; and Md Nur Alam, Account Manager, Bangladesh Digital Power Business. Also read: Huawei recognised 2022 Gartner Peer Insights Customers' Choice for 3rd straight year BGMEA Vice President Miran Ali was also present at the meeting. They had discussions on possible scope of increasing renewable energy usage by using solar plants in the garment industry and how Huawei can provide its technical solutions to achieve the objective. BGMEA President Faruque Hassan mentioned the impressive progress of Bangladesh’s RMG industry in terms of sustainability and continuous strides in pursuing excellence in the area. He said Bangladesh is proud to have the highest number of green garment factories in the world with more factories are in the process of becoming green. Also read: Seeds for the Future winners visit Huawei Bangladesh headquarters “However, instead of becoming complacent, we have continued our efforts in making our RMG industry green more and more with adaptation of environment-friendly and energy and resource efficient technologies,” said the BGMEA chief. A green factory helps to reduce the energy usage by 40 percent and water consumption by more than 30 percent while it also emits less carbon, thus ensuring environmental safety, he said. The BGMEA President requested Huawei Technologies to bring innovative and cost-effective solar plants to garment factories at affordable prices. Read Akij sets up rooftop solar plant with Huawei's technology

Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) has signed an agreement with LightCastle Partners for conducting a feasibility study on “Establishing a Virtual Marketplace Platform for the RMG sector”. The study will analyze the gaps in policies, market potential and readiness of the sector, and include a suitable business model and an action plan to implement operations.  Also read: BGMEA claiming 100 percent salaries, bonuses paid to RMG workforce Faruque Hassan, President of BGMEA said revolution in digital technologies has led notable changes in business landscape, creating new trends and opportunities, especially rapid rise in online marketplace.  "Companies have been increasingly going online with advancement of digital technologies and the Covid-19 accelerated the pace of digital transformation, leading to a boom in the digital and e-commerce sectors," he said.  Adaption to the changing trade is the key to sustain and seize new opportunities, said the BGMEA chief.  Developing a virtual market platform will boost sales of the RMG sector and rebound from the effects of the pandemic. Also read: Bangladesh to retain fame as safe, sustainable apparel sourcing destination: BGMEA "This study will help to identify the challenges and opportunities of the sector to establish an online marketplace.” Zahedul Amin, Co-founder & Director, LightCastle Partners, said Bangladesh’s apparel sector must retain its competitiveness advantage by harnessing technology driven market development, in order to leap frog ahead of its competitors. The key officials from LightCastle Partners Ivdad Ahmed Khan Mojlish, Managing Director, Zahedul Amin, Co-founder and Director and Rafayet Khan, Business Consultant were present during the agreement signing.  The study will be funded by IFC’s Partnership for Cleaner Textile (PaCT II) program, supported by the government of Denmark through the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Bangladesh. 

A delegation of BGMEA headed by President Faruque Hassan met with President of Amfori Linda Kromjong and Senior Legal Advisor – Trade and Customs Stuart Newman in Brussels on Tuesday. This is for the first time any delegation from BGMEA visited the Amfori headquarters and held a high-level meeting with the leadership of Amfori which represents over 2,400 retailers, importers, brands and associations from more than 40 countries, said a media release. BGMEA Vice President Miran Ali and Directors Asif Ashraf, Tanvir Ahmed and Abdullah Hil Rakib were present at the meeting. READ: BGMEA for promoting RMG industry globally They discussed possible areas of collaboration between BGMEA and Amfori to enable the RMG industry of Bangladesh to pursue more excellence in social and environmental sustainability. The discussions covered a range of issues related to the textile and apparel industry, its challenges and opportunities. They highlighted the success stories of the industry, especially its world-class standards in workplace safety and transparency. The BGMEA leaders requested the Amfori’s support in its working with the European Commission with regard to the Everything But Arms facility for Bangladesh. READ: Repair roads in industrial areas, reduce traffic jam, BGMEA urges RHD They also urged Amfori to promote Bangladesh as a safe and sustainable apparel-sourcing destination among its members.

Entrepreneurs on Sunday demanded  an end to the existing discrimination in tariff rates on the import of fire safety equipment. They made the demand at the first meeting of the FBCCI Standing Committee on Fire Safety, Disaster and Explosion held at FBCCI. They were referring to the fact that the government has only allowed tax benefits for the import of fire safety equipment to the garment sector .  But the image of Bangladesh abroad is tarnished when fires break out in other industries as well.  Moreover, they said, workers in all sectors have equal rights to safety and security.  Therefore, there should be no such discrimination in the tariff rate on the import of fire safety equipment, they demanded. Also read: FBCCI to work for restoring confidence in e-commerce sector The committee chairman Md. Niaz Ali Chisty said it is important for factories in all sectors to have fire protection systems to ensure safe industrialization in the country.  But other than the garment industry, other industrialists have to bear the heavy tax burden of importing these much-needed equipment, he said. The total tax incidence is 58.6 percent in fire door, fire alarm cable and hose reel imports, 37 percent in gate valve, 26.2 percent in fire pump and fire alarm system (detector), 11.05 percent in fire extinguisher and 31 percent in ABC dry powder, he informed. Due to high tax incidence, he said, it is often not possible for small and medium entrepreneurs to take adequate fire protection measures. Hence, he demanded equal benefits for all sectors like the readymade garment industry. Separate permits, required for the import of carbon dioxide, foam, dry powder and other fire-resistant gases and chemicals result in harassment and time delay for the importers. As there is no BSTI laboratory in Chattogram, chemicals have to be sent to Dhaka for testing, which takes an additional 8 to 10 days. Prices have risen due to fares at ports and containers for those days. Speaking as the chief guest at the meeting, FBCCI Vice President Md. Amin Helaly said that the development of Bangladesh has been largely informal. But now it is time to ensure security to the industry.  He urged the standing committee to prepare an action plan to ensure fire safety in the factory.  He also recommended starting sector-based training by preparing a training manual. At the same time, the vice-president urged the importers to take initiative to manufacture fire safety equipment locally. Abu Motaleb, director-in-charge of the committee, said there could be various reasons behind the fire at the factory.  Also read: Automobile industry lacks policy to grow in Bangladesh: FBCCI But first of all, the owner is blamed. He said the standing committee would soon submit a policy to the FBCCI identifying the problems and action plan to ensure fire safety in the factory, he added. A sub-committee is also formed at the meeting to formulate that policy. During the meeting, Brig Gen. (retd) Abu Nayeem Md Shahidullah, advisor of FBCCI's Safety Council, said that FBCCI has already contacted ILO to start safety training in the industry. The government is also considering setting up a national level one-stop service in order to provide all fire safety certificates and permits, he informed. FBCCI Director Harun Or Rashid, Secretary General Mohammad Mahfuzul Hoque, Standing Committee Co-Chairman Md. Wahid Uddin, Mohammed Shahjahan, Abul Hossain, M Mahmudur Rashid, Zakir Uddin Ahmed, Mohammad Shamsul Haque Jamil, Mohammad Awlad Husain Rajib, Mohammad Monzur Alam, Tanjir Ahmmed Tohin and other members of the committee were present in the meeting.

Leaders of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) have sought government support in addressing RMG sector’s challenges. Leaders of BGMEA headed by President Faruque Hassan met with M. Tofazzel Hossain Miah, Senior Secretary at the Prime Minister’s Office in Dhaka on Sunday and discussed the relevant issues, said the apex body of the apparel sector on Monday. BGMEA Vice Presidents Shahidullah Azim, Khandoker Rafiqul Islam and Md. Nasir Uddin were present at the meeting. They apprised the senior secretary about the present business situation and challenges being faced particularly by the RMG industry in Bangladesh and possible course of actions to deal with the challenges. Faruque Hassan especially drew the attention to the issues and problems which are being faced by the garment industry. READ: 6th BGMEA Cup begins on Jan 20 He said the apparel industry of Bangladesh is passing a very important period when many challenges are on one side and enormous opportunities on the other side. He urged for government initiatives and effective actions in tackling the challenges and making use of the opportunities. The BGMEA leaders also requested for government steps to further improve ease of doing business, especially addressing the bottlenecks, reducing time, process and cost in all criteria of the doing business. READ: It's high time to focus more on value-added, high-end apparels: BGMEA The senior secretary listened to the BGMEA leaders and assured of cooperation and support in dealing with the issues and problems.

Multiple audits are not only waste of time and money, but also create audit fatigue making compliance difficult for enterprises, according to BGMEA,  the apex body of the apparel industry. This has led to growing calls for converging the protocols to audit garment factories in the industry, it said. Against such a backdrop, a committee has been formed jointly by the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), and the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) for working on a unified code of conduct for RMG industry. Read: Bangladesh’s next development phase to depend hugely on industrialisation: BGMEA The leaders of BGMEA and BKMEA held a meeting on Sunday where they had discussions on the issue of unified code of conduct and formed the committee. BGMEA President Faruque Hassan presided over the meeting which was also attended by BGMEA Vice President Shahidullah Azim, Vice President Miran Ali, Director Asif Ashraf, BKMEA Executive President Mohammad Hatem, Vice President Fazlee Shamim Ehsan, Vice President Md. Akhter Hossain Apurbo, and Director Imran Kader Turjo. The 11-member committee headed by BGMEA Vice President Miran Ali will carry out thorough assessment of feasibility of a common code of conduct for social audits including national laws, rules, and policies and international conventions such UNGP along with buyers code of conduct and third-party audit protocols. Read:Monthly RMG production capacity to reach $7/8bn soon: BGMEA The committee will take cognizance of the local context while adhering to local and international principles with utmost consideration. The committee will also engage with international stakeholders including brands, trade associations, academia and social partners to formulate a feasible path to end the audit fatigue.

Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) President has sought support from all the stakeholders to protect the interests of the RMG industry, especially at the present situation when the sector is passing a critical period. “Support and cooperation of all including the government, entrepreneurs and workers are needed to protect the interests of RMG industry,” he said. While the apparel sector is yet to fully recover from the impacts of the Covid-19, the hike in prices of yarn, cotton, dyes, chemicals and other raw materials has pushed the production cost up, said the BGMEA chief. He made the remarks during a meeting with State Minister for Labour and Employment Begum Monnujan Sufian and Labour and Employment Secretary Md. Ehsan-E-Elahi held on Wednesday, said the BGMEA on Thursday. Read:BGMEA for branding 'Made in Bangladesh' He said the prices are not offered in accordance with the increased production costs. “Besides, the recent surge in Covid infection in some European countries has raised concerns among the exporters.” “In such critical context, we all have to work together so that our apparel industry can face all the challenges and remain competitive in the global market,” said the BGMEA chief. Former BGMEA Presidents Md. Shafiul Islam (Mohiuddin) MP, Abdus Salam Murshedy MP and Md. Siddiqur Rahman, incumbent BGMEA Senior Vice President SM Mannan (Kochi), Vice President (Finance) Khandoker Rafiqul Islam, Directors Abdullah Hil Rakib, Haroon Ar Rashid, Rajiv Chowdhury and former Director ANM Saifuddin were present at the meeting held at the residence of the State Minister. Also read: BGMEA shares RMG success stories at IAF meeting They had discussion on the overall situation of the ready-made garment industry, including its challenges and opportunities. The BGMEA leaders thanked the government for providing support to the RMG industry during its difficult times.

Bangladesh’s RMG sector needs to improve its labour and working environment in line with the United Nations Guiding Principles (UNGPs) to better handle the post-graduation challenges, speakers said at a virtual dialogue on Saturday. Over the past decade, they said, the export-oriented RMG sector has made significant progress in strengthening workplace safety. Read: BGMEA seeks duty-free access to Brazil for RMG products Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) in partnership with the Christian Aid in Bangladesh organised the virtual dialogue titled “Building the RMG Sector in Adherence with the United Nations Guiding Principles (UNGPs).” In continuation of this journey, the speakers said, the sector needs to focus on human and labour rights issues taking into account the post-LDC graduation requirements. The UNGPs have provided a guideline for the industries on how to improve the labour rights practices in the workplace. Read: Bangladesh RMG industry growing sustainably: BGMEA President Such a guideline will be highly beneficial for the RMG enterprises to better structure social compliances in adherence to international standards, they said, adding that the government agencies will get a better understanding about how to facilitate factories in strengthening their labour practices. CPD Executive Director Dr Fahmida Khatun delivered the introductory remarks and Country Director and Christian Aid Bangladesh Pankaj Kumar delivered the welcome remarks at the session. They shared that since the issues are new in the context of Bangladesh, an exploratory study has been conducted on the ‘State of the UNGPs in the RMG Sector of Bangladesh’. Based on a nationally representative sample survey in the RMG enterprises, the study has identified areas of strengths and weaknesses in UNGP practices and thereby put forward a set of suggestions. Mentioning that the RMG sector is one of the key sources of foreign exchange earnings, Dr Fahmida suggested that even though the sector has shown impressive growth during the post-Rana Plaza period, there are some social compliance issues that still require a focus. In his keynote paper, CPD Research Dr Khondaker Golam Moazzem said the study analysed the level of maturity on UNGPs of RMG enterprises on eight key indicators such as policy commitment; governance and embedding; prioritisation of risks and identification of the salient human rights issues; stakeholder engagement; assessing human rights risks; integration and mitigation measures; tracking; and remedy and grievance mechanisms. The study pointed out that Bangladesh’s overall progress in terms of UNGPs is still below the elementary level—mainly at a “negligible” level. He said basic facilities for workers are yet to be available across the board in all factories and disparity in human and labour standards in terms of size, membership and location of factories is well-noticed. The level of overall improvement is more evident in the case of the large- and medium-sized factories compared to the small-sized ones. Also, the study highlighted interesting facts which showed that the factories from Dhaka and Gazipur district have better performance in most human rights aspects than factories from Chattogram and Narayanganj. Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) President Faruque Hassan put some vital issues on the table, including—adhering to the SDGs, developing a unified code of conduct to avoid the audit fatigue, conducting a comprehensive research in concentration with all the local and global standards, and bringing a positive change through apparel diplomacy and thorough research. BGMEA Director Vidiya Amrit Khan said organisations under the BGMEA are much more transparent regarding audit and compliance related information. Still, she remarked, individual companies might have different strategies, and opening/publishing web page-based data cannot be imposed. She commented that the wage rate corresponds with the efficiency of the labour force. Sharmin Sultana Moushumi, Advocate, Bangladesh High Court, talked about the issue of safety inspection and re-inspection. “Necessary amendments to labour laws and rules need to be considered as well as better functioning of labour courts and other barriers in the courts need to be reduced to complete the cases quickly.” “It’s a high time that we should address our problems and challenges with transparency,” commented another distinguished discussant Haroon Ar Rashid, Director, BGMEA. Md Mojibul Haque, MP, Chairman, Parliamentary Standing Committee on Ministry of Labour and Employment, Bangladesh Parliament was present as a special Guest. Shedding light on the need for reducing the gap between the owners and the workers, he said that more seminars and symposiums should be organised in order to address the gap and increase awareness from both ends. First Vice-President of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) Mohammad Hatem highlighted two important issues—first, childcare facilities, and second, corporate social responsibility (CSR) facilities. He also called for a collective and coordinated effort to reduce various gaps.

Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) President Faruque Hassan has sought support from the Bangladesh envoy in Canada to increase the country's share of apparel exports in a potential market like Canada, especially in the area of high-end and diversified apparel products. He met Bangladesh High Commissioner to Canada Dr Khalilur Rahman in Ottawa recently and discussed relevant issues. BGMEA Director Abdullah Hil Rakib was also present at the meeting. The BGMEA president also requested the envoy to project the positive stories of Bangladesh's apparel industry – namely, remarkable progress workplace safety, social and environmental sustainability and workers' wellbeing. READ: BGMEA urges Canadian buyers to take more garments from Bangladesh He emphasised the efforts and role of the high commission in Canada in securing the continuation of trade benefits for Bangladesh for 12 years after the country's graduation from the least developed country (LDC) category in 2026. Faruque also sought cooperation from Khalilur Rahman in finding ways to involve non-resident Bangladeshis (NRBs) living in Canada in the economic development of Bangladesh. READ: BGMEA seeks Govt support for RMG sector to overcome pandemic challenges He informed the envoy about the present situation of Bangladesh's ready-made garment (RMG) industry, especially how the industry has been rebounding following the unprecedented disruption caused by the Covid-19. Faruque also shared the future priorities of the apparel industry, including product diversification, especially increased focus on non-cotton and high-end product segments, market diversification and innovation in product development and process optimisation.