Bangladesh needs help from the developed world in order to integrate with the global system and maintain the standards associated with the global value and supply chains.
Bangladesh lacks the capacity to meet those standards and these constraints need to be addressed for enhancing productive capabilities.
Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed made the interventions at a high-level G7 consultation on “Developing Sustainable Global Supply Chain in the Context of Decent Work for All” at Germany’s Berlin last week.
This is the first time a Bangladeshi delegation is invited to such a high-profile G7 panel discussion.
Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi, German Ministers for Social Affairs and Labour Andrea Nahles, Economic Development and Cooperation Gerd Muller, French Economic Minister Francois Rebsamin, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, OECD Secretary General Angel Gurría , ILO Director General Guy Ryder, members of other international development agencies took part in the discussion.
The members of Bangladesh delegation included Mostafa Abid Khan, acting CEO of BFTI, and Riaz Hamidullah, director general the Foreign Ministry.
Germany is now holding preparatory meetings for the next G7 Summit due in a few months.
The delegation pointed out that Bangladesh wants to prosper in a fair and equitable manner in the global marketplace and the developed nations should appreciate and consider the challenges that local producers are facing, said an official who attended the meeting.
Over the last two years, Bangladesh and the developed world worked hand-in-hand to improve working conditions in the readymade garment sector and the G7 felt that they can use Bangladesh’s experience for developing a new model in other parts of the world, the official said.
“We got the impression that the developed countries want to begin a global conversation with the producer countries within global supply chain to make globalisation fair, supply chain sustainable and ethical,” he added.
