At an exchange of views meeting on compliance issues of RMG sector in Bangladesh, garment factory owners demand fair price from buyers to ensure compliance at factories. BGMEA and BKMEA jointly organized the exchange of views meeting at Noorul Quader Auditorium, BGMEA Complex, Dhaka on 13 November 2013.
The President of BGMEA Md Atiqul Islam presided over the meeting. H. E. Gerben de Jong, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, BGMEA Vice President Md Shahidullah Azim, Vice President (Finance) Reaz-Bin-Mahmood, Mohammad Hatem, First Vice President, BKMEA, A.H Aslam Sunny, Second Vice President, BKMEA, Mahbub Ahmed, Secretary, Ministry of Commerce, Mikail Shipar, Secretary, Ministry of Labour & Employment, H. E. Sarah Cooke, Country Representative, DFID Bangladesh, Tobais (Toby) Glucksman, Deputy Chief, Political and Economic Section, Embassy of the United States among others were present in the meeting.
Garment factory owners demanded a national standard of compliance instead of unilateral requirements of Western buyers. The factory owners sought government cooperation in setting inspection guidelines. They demanded a certain standard for factory inspection on fire and building safety and urged the government to stop harassment in the name of inspection by several organizations.
The BGMEA President Md Atiqul Islam said: “We are completely confused about which formula of compliance should be followed.” Referring to a recent study by a German university, he said that buyers play a double standard as they want best quality with cheapest price as well as compliance at the factories.
“Please convey the message that we need a fair price as cost of production has gone up significantly over the years,” he requested some foreign envoys and diplomats present in the meeting.
The BGMEA president also added that the buyers should support the factory owners as they claim themselves as partners. He said that the RMG factories cannot be changed overnight, it will take time. So, he requested the buyers to allow more time to shift the factories from shared buildings.