Published in The Daily Star on Thursday, 2 June 2016
CPD to conduct study on apparel industry
Star Business Report
The Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) will conduct a study on the country’s apparel industry to find out the changes that are taking place in the sector after the Rana Plaza building collapse.
The private think tank made an announcement about the study titled “New dynamics in Bangladesh’s apparel enterprises: perspectives on restructuring, upgradation and compliance assurance” at a programme in Dhaka on Tuesday.
The centre will highlight how better compliance and their implications for cost and competitiveness are bringing changes at the enterprise level in the garment sector, CPD said in a statement.
The study will come up with a set of recommendations towards future development of the apparel sector as a compliant, highly competitive, gender-sensitive, productivity-driven and decent labour promoting industry, according to the statement.
The study will build on CPD’s recent work carried out in the aftermath of the Rana Plaza tragedy.
The labour and employment secretary will chair the study’s advisory group
Representatives from trade bodies, labour unions, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association, experts, activists, International Labour Organisation (ILO) and other stakeholder groups will also work in the study.
The two-year-long study will be prepared based on information generated through extensive enterprise-level survey, focus group discussions with workers and entrepreneurs and expert group meetings.
The study will be implemented by the CPD in partnership with embassies of Sweden, the Netherlands along with Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) and GIZ, the German development organisation.
Johan Frisell, ambassador of Sweden in Bangladesh; Martine van Hoogstraten, deputy head of mission; Franziska Korn, resident representative of the FES Bangladesh Office; Jochen Weikert, programme coordinator; and Monika Lueke, programme coordinator from GIZ, attended the launching event.
Mustafizur Rahman, executive director of the CPD; Debapriya Bhattacharya, distinguished fellow, and Khondaker Golam Moazzem, additional research director, were also present.
Published in The Financial Express on Thursday, 2 June 2016
CPD undertakes study on future of BD garments industry
The Centre for Policy Dialogue has undertaken a new study on RMG sector of Bangladesh on Tuesday which is expected to come up with a set of recommendations towards future development of the apparels sector.
A new study by the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) titled “New Dynamics in Bangladesh’s Apparels Enterprises: Perspectives on Restructuring, Upgradation and Compliance Assurance” was launched at an event held on Tuesday in the presence of key involved partners and stakeholders, said a press release.
The CPD study will seek to capture the profound changes taking place at the enterprise level in the country’s export-oriented RMG sector through better compliance and their implications for cost and competitiveness. The study will come up with a set of recommendations towards future development of the apparels sector of the country as a compliant, highly competitive, gender-sensitive, productivity-driven and decent labour promoting industry.
The study will build on CPD’s recent works carried out in the aftermath of the Rana Plaza tragedy. The Secretary of the Ministry of Labour and Employment (MoLE), Government of Bangladesh (GoB) will chair the Study Advisory Group which will include representatives from labour organisations, trade bodies (BGMEA and BKMEA), experts, activists, International Labour Organization (ILO), and other stakeholder groups. The aforesaid study will be based on data and information generated through extensive enterprise-level survey, focus group discussions (FGDs) with workers and entrepreneurs and expert group meetings.
It is hoped that the study will help policymakers to design appropriate strategies for long-term development of the sector. The study will be implemented by the CPD over next two years in partnership with Embassy of Sweden, Bangladesh; The Netherlands Embassy, Bangladesh; Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) Bangladesh; and Deutsche GesellschaftfürInternationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, which works on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
Dignitaries attending the launching event on behalf of the partnering organisations were H E Johan Frisell, Ambassador of Sweden in Bangladesh; Martine van Hoogstraten, Deputy Head of Mission and Head of Development Cooperation, Royal Netherlands Embassy in Bangladesh; Franziska Korn, Resident Representative of the FES Bangladesh Office; and Dr Jochen Weikert, Programme Coordinator and Dr Monika Lueke, Programme Coordinator from GIZ.
A number of distinguished representatives from policymakers, development partners including the International Labour Organization (ILO), entrepreneurs and other stakeholder groups attended the eventincluding Miah Abdullah Mamun, Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Labour and Employment.Professor Mustafizur Rahman, Executive Director, Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, Distinguished Fellow and Dr Khondaker Golam Moazzem, Additional Research Director of the CPD were also present at the programme.
– TM