Local and foreign investment in ready-made garment sector are key to achieving the $50 billion export target as envisaged by multi-stakeholders, discussants said at a programme yesterday.
They observed that apart from investments, fixation of safety remediation, apparel diplomacy, labour rights, productivity enhancement and figuring out logistical needs of RMG sector need to be addressed in right earnest to meet the target.
The observations came at the roundtable titled “Target $50bn: We need your support to reach it” jointly organised by Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and The Daily Star yesterday.
“FDI is not a matter of competition. Please be more friendly to foreign investment as it is important,” said Pierre Mayaudon, ambassador and the head of delegation of European Union.
Make investment in technology and new machinery to achieve the $50 billion target. There are 200 million funds for the remediation work, Mayaudon said, adding that the government has to take initiative for quick release of the fund to complete the process of safety remediation.
In her address, US Ambassador to Bangladesh, Marcia Stephens Bloom Bernicat, called for investment in RMG remediation.
She said if investment is made in remediation, it will give three rewards – production efficiency, continued tracking of buyers and happy and satisfied workers.
“In last two years, what Bangladesh did in RMG sector is extraordinary and I am urging the manufacturers to finish the remediation quickly,” added the US ambassador.
“Cheap labor always irritates me, but Bangladesh needs skilled workforce and quality products with on-time delivery.”
The sector people have to figure out how much investment RMG sector needs to achieve its export target, said Ahsan H Mansur, executive director, Policy Research Institute of Bangladesh.
He called for twice as much investment as the RMG sector witnessed in last 35 years.
“There will have competitiveness, but we have to face that through quality and experience.”
The sector people have to come up with a statistics of how much skilled workers, mid-level mangers and the capacity of port and other-related issues are needed to meet the export target as it would help the government reach a policy decision, said Khondaker Golam Moazzem, additional research director of Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD).
The change in safety standards should not only be for Bangladesh it applies to other sourcing countries also, he observed.
BGMEA President Siddiqur Rahman said the key to development is investment, and to keep the investment up, uninterrupted gas supply, infrastructure and communication development, plus low-cost finance are necessary.
ILO Country director Srinivas B Reddy stressed the need for labour rights, fixation of safety issues and investment to train people to create skilled workforce to reach the target set by the RMG sector.
The culture of cooperation and dialogue between workers and employers needs to be prevailing all the time, not just at crisis moment only, said Reddy.
“I am calling for fixation of remediation so buyers and brands can put their investment here,” he said.
World Bank lead economist Zahid Husain said “First, we have to think if there is any opportunity to achieve the $50 billion export target and what the sector needs for that.”
Bangladesh has to increase production but there are two obstacles energy and land. But due to lack of gas supply newly established factories cannot go for production, which discourages new investment, a key element for production enhancement, said Zahid.
“The $50-billion target is also our dream and we are a part of it,” said Najma Akter, president of Sammilito Garment Sramik Federation.
For achieving the target, living wage, freedom of association, safety committee, social dialogue are a must, she suggested.
He urged the government and buyers to take measures to ensure healthcare of age-old workers crossing 40 years.
“Let us know, how many skilled workers you need to achieve the target, otherwise we will not be able to take measures,” Senior Secretary to Labour and Employment Ministry Mikail Shipar said.
NBR will provide more incentives to the RMG sector if the manufacturers use energy efficient and environmentally-friendly technology, said NBR Chairman Nojibur Rahman.
He also urged the sector people to be tax-compliant.