All RMG products to carry ‘Bangladeshe Toiri’ tag from January next

All ready-made garment (RMG) products manufactured in Bangladesh will carry a tag featuring the Bangla words "Bangladeshe Toiri" alongside "Made in Bangladesh" in English from 1 January 2024, said Faruque Hassan, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).

"While inaugurating the 'Made in Bangladesh Week' on 13 November last year, we announced to promote Bangla words on our apparel tags. In that continuation, Wisdom Attires first added the words 'Bangladeshe Toiri' on the tags of its apparel and we thank the company for the move," he said at a press conference in Uttara BGMEA office in the capital on Saturday.

The BGMEA is also seeking a change to the Bangladesh EPZ Labour Act to ensure workers' trade union and other rights, which the US and EU authorities have been demanding for a long time, Faruque Hassan said in response to a question.

"We believe that workers of all sectors should have equal rights and the garment industry is committed to upholding workers' rights," he said.

"Workers have the right to form trade unions, but the problem is the foreign investors, who invest in the Export Promotion Zones (EPZs). They do not want this," Faruque said, adding that the government sets up EPZs as per the prescription of foreigners.

"We urge the Bangladesh Export Processing Zone Authority (Bepza) to amend the law to grant workers the right to organise unions," the BGMEA president said.

Regarding the board for minimum wage, he said the BGMEA already submitted three names to the Ministry of Labour and Employment for the board. Once the ministry forms the board, apparel manufacturers will voluntarily embrace the new pay structure.

In response to another question, Faruque Hassan said Bangladesh will continue to benefit from the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) facility from the EU, the UK, and other nations until 2029 due to its graduation from the Least Developed Countries (LDC) category.

The BGMEA, however, is aiming to extend it, at least till 2032, and the government is supporting their initiative as well. The organisation already held meetings with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) director general, the EU senior officials, and the UK authorities concerned in this regard.

"Our objective is clear. After LDC graduation, we do not want to suffer due to the development trap. We might easily enter the global market as competitors if we can keep the GSP facility till 2032," he said.

"We have two arguments to expand the facility. First, we are facing an economic crisis due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, which was their [US and EU countries] problem. The second issue is, Bangladesh accepted 1.3 million Rohingyas, one of the highest ever refugee acceptances in the world," the BGMEA president said, adding that the global communities should increase the GSP tenure for Bangladesh considering these issues.

In response to a question regarding the country's current RMG trade situation, Faruque Hassan said, "Our exports to the US market have dropped, though we have tremendous growth in new markets of India, Japan and South Korea."

He said high raw material prices, increased production costs, as well as soaring gas and power prices are impacting the sector.

Moreover, global economic turmoil and inflationary pressures have curtailed the purchasing capacity of people and buyers have changed their sourcing patterns, Faruque said. 

"Now, buyers place orders in small slots, which is hampering the production planning," he said.

Bangladesh has a huge potential in the circular economy, especially in recycling textile waste. The BGMEA is looking for foreign investors in this area and also seeking government policy support, Faruque added. 

BGMEA Vice-President Md Nasir Uddin, Sparrow Group Managing Shovon Isalm, and JFK Fashion Managing Director M Kafil Uddin Ahmed, among others, were also present at the press conference.