German partner GIZ stresses upgrade to garment factories
Social and environmental standards in the garment industry became more crucial in Bangladesh as more than 1,700 people lost lives in the Rana Plaza and Tazreen incidents, said a top official of a German development partner.
The RMG sectors needs to rethink its standards, said Promita Sengupta, acting country director of GIZ.
“We have to take the responsibility of ensuring social and environmental standards and workers' rights at the beginning of any business plan,” she said.
A value related cost and benefit analysis can be key to maintaining social and environmental standards, she said yesterday at a workshop on researching and analysing the export market.
The workshop was organised by the Promotion of Social and Environmental Standards in the Industry, a project of GIZ, and sponsored by the International Trade Centre (ITC), Bangladesh German Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the European Union (EU).
The workshop was organised to build the capacity of firms that are poised to export to new markets in regards to market selection and research, she said.
It includes elements on how to improve their access to debt or equity financing and leverage export opportunities offered by diaspora communities, she added.
The EU has provided the best possible market access to Bangladesh for several decades through the generalised system of preferences and a quota-free access of its exports, said William Hanna, EU ambassador to Bangladesh.
“So, at first we gave Bangladesh full market access, then provided support to improve the trade capacity, which we are still providing, and finally, relaxed the rules of origin for GSP two years ago to make the maximum use of the EBA (everything but arms - duty-free, quota free treatment for all LDC).”
The GSP had given a golden opportunity to Bangladeshi exporters to diversify exports, which remained largely limited to RMG so far, he said.
A group of 45 participants received training from different Bangladeshi and international organisations.
Mathieu Lamolle, a trainer of ITC, presented the keynote paper at the workshop. He explained the impact of Bangladesh's export to the EU.
The EU accounts for 55.13 percent of total exports from Bangladesh in 2012, he said. Germany itself accounted for an impressive 15.45 percent and the US 19.3 percent, he added.
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