Bangladesh Chamber of Industries (BCI) sought German cooperation in providing training to create skilled manpower in the industrial sector. Such cooperation was sought when a five-member delegation, led by BCI President Anwar-ul Alam Chowdhury (Parvez) met GIZ country director Dr. Angelika Fleddermann at her office at Gulshan in the city on Tuesday. GIZ is the main German development agency headquartered in Bonn and Eschborn that provides services in the field of international development cooperation and international education work. Read Factory committees: BGMEA, GIZ, Particip to work on participation, safety, anti-harassment The BCI leaders said they want to conduct Training of Trainers (ToT) training by bringing trainers from Germany, which is a country rich in workmanship, technology and technical knowhow said a BCI press release. BCI President seeks co-operation from GIZ in the field of building trainers, preparing course curriculum and training manual, achieving efficiency in using latest technology, building skilled manpower in light engineering and agro-processing sectors, creating new entrepreneurs and promoting exporters. The GIZ country director appreciated the BCI leaders for their interest in building the skilled manpower in the industrial sector in Bangladesh. READ: BCI delegation meets Germany envoy; seeks cooperation for micro, small industries Other members of the BCI delegation were Senior Vice President of BCI Priti Chakraborty, Vice president Shahidul Islam Niru, director K.M. Rifatuzzaman and Secretary General Dr. Ardhendu Shekhar Roy and Thomas Hubner, Business Scout for Development of GIZ and Dr. Michael Klode, Project Manager was also present at the meeting. The BCI President said that BCI is the sole and exclusive chamber of the industrial community which represents all sorts of industries of both the public and private sector and endeavours to contribute to the industrialization as well as economic development of the country. It also plays an important role in generating new entrepreneurs in the field of small and micro industry fields. Furthermore, BCI always works for the interest of the industries and tries to remove all kinds of obstructions and impediments. Read GIZ discusses areas of cooperation with BGMEA He mentioned that cottage, micro, and small industries in the country are sectors with immense potential but lacking skilled manpower. So the chamber thinks that to be a developed country and to achieve the vision 2041 there is no other option other than building skilled manpower.

The Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), German international cooperation enterprise GIZ, and Particip GmbH (Particip) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to strengthen the capacity – participation, safety, anti-harassment – of factory committees of BGMEA member factories. The MoU aims to enable these committees to build and maintain a healthy relationship among both workers and management representatives of each committee. Under the agreement, the master trainers of the BGMEA who were provided with a five-day training of trainers training will train several factory committee members in the participating member factories to develop their capacities and function more effectively. Also read: BGMEA urges BEZA to expedite garment village construction at Mirsarai BGMEA President Faruque Hassan, Dr Michael Klode, GIZ project coordinator STILE, and Md Manjur Morshed, senior adviser at Particip GmbH, inked the agreement Thursday. Faruque said: "It is hoped that this initiative will strengthen the capacity of workers and management representatives to make different committees more functional." "The apparel industry of Bangladesh has made unprecedented efforts and progress in workplace safety, particularly in fire, electrical and structural integrity over the past eight years." Also read: BGMEA discusses collaboration with DMCH on workers' healthcare "Over these years massive training and awareness building initiatives were undertaken to create the culture of safety, which covered fire safety drills and other occupational safety and health issues, as well as social dialogue and industrial relations," the BGMEA president added. Michael Klode said: "We are happy to work with BGMEA to address a range of factory committees to ensure better communication about social and environmental standards, also gender issues that lead to more efficiency and higher productivity." BGMEA Directors Faisal Samad and Rajiv Chowdhury, former BGMEA director ANM Saifuddin, and GIZ Senior Adviser Sarwat Ahmad were also present at the MoU signing ceremony in the city. Read BGMEA, Amfori intend to collaborate to pursue sustainability in RMG sector