In the backdrop of prevailing unrest over the recently-announced wage board for apparel industry workers, Bangladesh’s garment manufacturers have called upon all to come forward and help the industry implement the new pay structure.
Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) arranged a press briefing on the new wage board in Dhaka on October 15, 2018, where they held up several factors pulling down Bangladesh’s apparel business at the local and global levels.
Recently, the minimum wage for Bangladesh’s 3.6 million garment workers was announced at BDT 8,000. There were protests against the decision as several pro-labour organisations were campaigning for a minimum wage of BDT 16,000.
According to what BGMEA President Md Siddiqur Rahman told reporters, the factors pushing Bangladesh’s garments business back in competition in the international markets are:
- Slowdown in global trade and demand. In 2014, the global trade of apparel amounted to US $483 billion, what came down to US $ 454 billion in 2017.
- Plunge in the US market. Bangladesh’s apparel exports went on a slide in the US apparel market by 11.72 per cent.
- During 2014-2018,the price of production went up by almost 29.54 per cent.
- Inefficiency at ports, absence of a deep-sea port, coupled with long lead time and low productivity of the workers have cost efficiency and competition.
- Costly remediation works at the factories for compliance issues. The factories have counted BDT 5-10 crore each in the remediation works.
“In the recent times, we have seen shutdown of about 1,200 factories as they could not remain profitable for various reasons. We fear, some more will close down in the coming future,” Rahman said in the context of increasing difficulty in doing business.
Reacting on the allegations of several pro-labour organisations, the BGMEA chief said they are spreading propaganda based on false information. “They are saying that there are only 3 per cent workers employed in the 7th grade. But, it is not true. The number is actually over 20 per cent.”
“Since the Rana Plaza disaster, prices of our apparel have decreased while our production cost has increased. Under the current circumstances, it will be extremely difficult for us to implement the new pay structure. But we have accepted it,” Rahman said.
He also expressed hopes that the apparel industry will see a gain as the ongoing infrastructural developments begin to bear fruits within a year.
