It takes three decades for Bangladesh to be among the world’s top three exporters of readymade garments, but the success has come from an industry primarily depending on imported machineries.
Commerce Minister Lt Col (Retd) Faruk Khan yesterday said the government is planning to set up a labour court in Ashulia, where garment industries have grown, to restore law and order and ensure punishment to the culprits involved in hatching conspiracy against the country's most vital sector.
Owners' tendency to control workers using muscle power, especially engaging local politicians and jhoot (garment wastes) businessmen, and government's indifferent attitude to solving problems of workers have caused the recent unrest in garment sector, said labour leaders.
Nazmul Ahsan: Storm clouds are gathering over the country’s $3.2 billion dress market in the USA, where major apparel brands are found scaling back their sales with hard-pressed Americans spending less on luxury.
Industry sources report above 700 chain stores of major US apparel brands that outsource to Bangladesh have either wound up or planned to do so in recent times as the fast-spreading financial crisis has nations across the continents racing for remedies.
Kazi Azizul Islam: Bangladeshi garment exporters have suffered a major setback in their single largest market as Vietnam has taken over Bangladesh’s position of the second largest supplier to the USA in terms of volume. Quoting fresh data sent from the USA, sources at the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association said that in the January-June period of the current year, Vietnam’s apparel shipments increased by more than 26 per cent to 706 million square metres.
At least 110 people were injured when the police charged at garment factory workers out on demonstrations with truncheons and teargas shells at Konabari in Gazipur and Savar in Dhaka on Saturday. Scores of vehicles and factories were vandalised. The lawmen also fired gunshots to tackle the situation.
The workers blocked the Dhaka–Tangail Highway at Konabari and the Dhaka–Aricha Highway at Savar, suspending traffic for several hours. The New Age correspondent in Gazipur said more than 70 people, including 18 policemen, were injured in clashes between garment workers and the police at Konabari over termination of the job and arrest of some of garment workers.
Garment exporters on Wednesday strongly protested against the latest hikes in domestic fuel prices, which, they claimed, would raise the cost of their business by at least $100 million a year. Leaders of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association said the fresh blow would come from increased fuel costs in two counts — for running diesel-powered generators in factories during unpredictable outages and also for trucks used in carrying materials.
The local ready-made garment (RMG) exporters yesterday urged foreign buyers to follow ethical buying practices to make Bangladesh more competitive in the global market. The RMG manufacturers and exporters made the plea to the buyers at a two-day Multi-stakeholders Forum-Bangladesh (MFB), which began in Dhaka.
Daily Star: Readymade garments (RMG) buying houses, both local and foreign, now grow rapidly in Bangladesh, as the country has become a lucrative place for RMG outsourcing on the appreciation of Chinese currency against the greenback.
