Editorial
Welcome respite for RMG
UK for import from Bangladesh
SOME good news for Bangladesh apparels industry. The RMG sector has been under the radar ever since the Rana Plaza fiasco. The statement issued by UK minister for International Development that disallowing import would have disastrous consequences on development and poverty alleviation for Bangladesh has gone down well here. With labour activists hammering for a ban on import of Bangladeshi apparels to the UK, the stand by the British government is welcome news indeed.
What is of equal import is the announcement by the minister that his government is going to make available £18million to support a programme for training 100,000 low-skilled garment and construction workers in the country to improve overall productivity and help produce higher-value products. That said, the fact needs to be stressed that safety standards will have to be expeditiously raised and complied with. Another Rana Plaza incident cannot be allowed to take place. For that to happen, all stakeholders both domestic and foreign need to take responsibility.
It is in that connection that the minister's remarks are interesting to note. His call for British clothing retailers to make the extra effort to ensure that safety is adhered to by factories from which their merchandise is sourced, if implemented, could go a very long way to improving standards across the industry. We look forward to a change in attitudes at buyer's end to help usher in a new era for Bangladesh RMG with safety for workers built into the work ethos.
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