Bangladesh garment manufacturers want a ‘commensurate adjustment’ by global brands and retailers in pricing and sourcing garments from developing countries like Bangladesh. They conveyed this at a recent seminar on responsible garment supply chain organised at The Hague by the TMC Asser Institute, a leading think tank in the Netherlands.

Representatives from the civil society, Accord, International Apparel Foundation, the Dutch Government and academics and researchers participated in the day-long seminar, a Bangladeshi news agency reported quoting the Bangladesh Embassy in The Hague.

Any discussion on wage increase has to be matched by commensurate real increase in pricing for the actual producers within the global apparel supply chain, Bangladesh High Commissioner to Sri Lanka M Riaz Hamidullah told the seminar.

Bangladesh Ambassador to the Netherlands Sheikh Mohammed Belal, Bangladesh High Commissioner to Sri Lank M Riaz Hamidullah, and BGMEA President M Siddiqur Rahman and Vice-President (Finance) Mohammed Nasir also spoke at the programme.

The BGMEA leadership shared a number of key aspects to illustrate the way the RMG manufacturers in Bangladesh stepped forward in transforming garment manufacturing by adopting new values, approached and technologies, pledging on labor rights and occupational safety.

Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) president M Siddiqur Rahman said while more than 300 Bangladeshi readymade garment units are to receive Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification offered by the non-profit US Green Building Council (USGBC), most of them do not receive the expected response from brands and retailers in spite of significant investment and innovations.

All the sessions discussed the need for European governments to engage with their respective brands and retailers to urgently look at increasing pricing as part of making apparel supply chain responsible and sustainable.