Friday, May 17, 2013

Dubai The Rana Plaza tragedy has shaken the business community in Bangladesh while international community has urged the industry to re-shape and re-invent itself by promoting best practices with a healthy and safe working environment.

“I was shocked and stunned when I heard the news of Rana Plaza incident, felt a sudden jolt while seeing the images of the dead being carried,” M. Sabur Khan, President of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI), expressed his reaction in an interview with the Gulf News.

He said, the incident might affect the branding image of Bangladesh on RMG sector, to some extent. “But the responsibility does not only lies with Bangladesh but also with the international brands,” he said. They have also responsibility to conduct due diligence to identify and address the impact on human rights.”

There are good numbers of garments factories in Bangladesh which complies with the international set of standards, Khan said. “Very recently Chinese entrepreneurs expressed interest to invest in Bangladesh as they found many factories here adequately compliant. If we can change the scenario by providing full support to the RMG sector then things will be changed rapidly,” he said.

Khan spoke on the issue at length, Excerpts:

Gulf News: Do you fear the international apparel buyers might abandon Bangladesh following the Rana Plaza tragedy?

Sabur Khan: Some international apparel buyers have been trying to tarnish Bangladesh’s image on RMG sector for some time. Disney had decided to pull out from Bangladesh last year and made the official announcement few days back. It’s a warning for Bangladesh Ready Made Garments (RMG) sector. But I don’t think that international buyers will pull out from Bangladesh. I think they will monitor the government and other stakeholders’ actions to improve workplace condition.

Gulf News: Will this incident help change the industry - improve industrial safety, health hygiene conditions and better wages?

Sabur Khan: Yes, it will and work has already startd on new policy guidelines. It is high time for Bangladesh to improve the overall conditions in apparel sector through ensuring industrial and labour safety, factory compliance, health hygiene factor, improving the economic conditions of the workers to make the industry more sustainable.

Gulf News: Should Bangladesh government force the garments factory owners to improve the conditions?

Sabur Khan: Bangladesh government needs to take some stern action and set some rules to improve the condition on RMG sector. Among the key stakeholders, the government and the trade body of garment factory owners, the BGMEA need to take decisive and bold steps to put worker safety and compliance at the top of the policy agenda.

Already Bangladesh has started to take some initiatives for the improvement of working conditions in RMG sector. The government has already decided to form a wage board to enhance wages for garment sector workers. The government and owners need to set up a new statutory independent RMG inspectorate funded by obligatory and legally binding levies imposed on all BGMEA members. Such a unit, in addition to manpower and resources, would need to have effective training and large global buyers could help to define an acceptable level of worker and building safety.

Gulf News: If the new conditions are met, do you think Bangladesh will lose competitiveness - due to increased costs?

Sabur Khan: No, Rather Bangladesh will revive its image among the international apparel buyers. The buyers have been a key element in ensuring greater compliance with approved standards in a wide range of areas including wage levels, worker conditions and safety. They are banging the table on compliance while at the same time pushing prices down to levels that make acceptable compliance uneconomic for manufacturers.

Gulf News: What is DCCI doing to help the industry?

Sabur Khan: We have already started advocacy programmes with government to assist the sector. Besides DCCI joined hands with BGMEA for short and medium-term measures for the RMG sector including incorporating freedom of association and collective bargaining into the labour law and ensuring occupational safety and also addressing he health issue of RMG workers. We are trying to pursue government to taking remedial actions by assessing structural designs and fire safety of all RMG factories and relocating unsafe factories.

Gulf News: Will you cancel their membership, if any of them are found violating the norms?

Sabur Khan: We will definitely cancel the membership of such members if we found them responsible for violating such norms. Dhaka Chamber of Commerce & Industry always works for the betterment of business in Bangladesh and as a prime chamber it has set some rules for its members to follow them strictly.

By Saifur Rahman Associate Editor

Gulf News 2013. All rights reserved.