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Bangladesh RMG Sector
The economy of Bangladesh is largely dependent on agriculture. However, in recent years, the Ready–Made Garments (RMG) sector has emerged as the biggest earner of foreign currency. The ready-made garment (RMG) sector has experienced an exponential growth since the 1980s.The sector contributes significantly to the GDP. It also provides employment to around 4.2 million Bangladeshis, mainly women from low income families which affects their social status. History In the 1950s, labor in the Western World became highly organized; forming trade unions. This and other changes provided workers greater rights including higher pay; which resulted in higher cost of production. Retailers started searching for places where the cost of production was cheaper. Developing economies like Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea presented themselves as good destinations for relocations because they had open economic policies and had non-unionized and highly disciplined labor force that could produce high quality products at much cheaper costs. In order to control the level of imported RMG products from developing countries into developed countries, Multi Fibre Agreement (MFA) was made in 1974. The MFA agreement imposed an export rate 6 percent increase every year from a developing country to a developed country. It also allowed developed countries to impose quotas on countries that exported at a higher rate than the bilateral agreements. In the face of such restrictions, producers started searching for countries that were outside the umbrella of quotas and had cheap labor. This is when Bangladesh started receiving investment in the RMG sector. In the early 1980s, some Bangladeshis received free training from Korean Daewoo Company.After these workers came back to Bangladesh, many of them broke ties with the factory they were working for and started their own factories. Facts and figures In the 1980s, there were only 50 factories employing only a few thousand people. Currently, there are 4490 manufacturing units. The RMG sector contributes around 76 percent to the total export earnings. In 2007 it earned $9.35 billion. This sector also contributes around 13 percent to the GDP, which was only around 3 percent in 1991. Of the estimated 4.2 million people employed in this sector, about 50 percent of them are women from rural areas. In 2000, the industry consisting of some 3000 factories employed directly more than 1.5 million workers of whom almost 80% were female. USA is the largest importer of Bangladeshi RMG products, followed by Germany, UK, France and other E.U countries. |
Women in the garment industry
Garment sector is the largest employer of women in Bangladesh.The garment sector has provided employment opportunities to women from the rural areas that previously did not have any opportunity to be part of the formal workforce. This has given women the chance to be financially independent and have a voice in the family because now they contribute financially.
The future
The RMG sector is expected to grow despite the global financial crisis of 2009.[9] As China is finding it challenging to make textile and foot wear items at cheap price, due to rising labor costs, many foreign investors, are coming to Bangladesh to take advantage of the low labor cost. Even now for the readymade garments most of the manufacture need to bring all the accessories from abroad, which is very costly. Now they are start using locally accessories minting the required quality. Zippers, buttons, labels, hooks, hangers, elastic bands, thread, backboards, butterfly pins, clips, collar stays, collarbones and cartons are the major garment accessories produced in Bangladesh. Many small and medium accessory industries have grown here over the years, particularly to meet high demand from low-end garment makers. The accessory market is dominated by multinational companies operating in Bangladesh, because in majority cases, garment buyers prefer accessories from them over the locally available items, Now it is time for the Bangladeshi Merchandiser to introduce more local trims and trims manufacturer to buyer to show their expertise.
Compliance
Five deadly incidents from November 2012 through May 2013 brought worker safety and labor violations in Bangladesh to world attention putting pressure on big global clothing brands such as Primark, Loblaw, Joe Fresh, Gap, Walmart, Nike, Tchibo, Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, and retailers to respond by using their economic weight to enact change.No factory owner has ever been prosecuted over the deaths of workers. RMG insiders in Bangladesh complain about the pressure to comply and argue that RMG factory owners are hampered by a shortage of space in their rental units. In spite of this the industry exports totaled $19 billion in 2011-2012. They expected export earnings to increase to $23 billion in 2012-2013.
In 2000 garment entrepreneurs had a reputation for shirking custom duties, evading corporate taxes, remaining absent in capital markets, avoiding social projects such as education, healthcare, and disaster relief but, argued authors Quddus and Salim, these entrepreneurs took the risks needed to build the industry. Bangladesh successfully competes in the manufacturing industry by maintaining "lowest labor costs in the world." Garment workers' minimum wage was set at roughly $37 a month in 2012 but since 2010 Bangladesh's double-digit inflation with no corresponding rise in minimum wage and labor rights, has led to protests.
Solutions
One of the solutions central to the safety issue may be worker empowerment; at Rana Plaza where the biggest disaster took place, the workers were forced to work, despite imminent collapse reported on TV news the previous day. One of the ways to empower workers may be by following Toyota Production System in manufacturing.
Garment sector is the largest employer of women in Bangladesh.The garment sector has provided employment opportunities to women from the rural areas that previously did not have any opportunity to be part of the formal workforce. This has given women the chance to be financially independent and have a voice in the family because now they contribute financially.
The future
The RMG sector is expected to grow despite the global financial crisis of 2009.[9] As China is finding it challenging to make textile and foot wear items at cheap price, due to rising labor costs, many foreign investors, are coming to Bangladesh to take advantage of the low labor cost. Even now for the readymade garments most of the manufacture need to bring all the accessories from abroad, which is very costly. Now they are start using locally accessories minting the required quality. Zippers, buttons, labels, hooks, hangers, elastic bands, thread, backboards, butterfly pins, clips, collar stays, collarbones and cartons are the major garment accessories produced in Bangladesh. Many small and medium accessory industries have grown here over the years, particularly to meet high demand from low-end garment makers. The accessory market is dominated by multinational companies operating in Bangladesh, because in majority cases, garment buyers prefer accessories from them over the locally available items, Now it is time for the Bangladeshi Merchandiser to introduce more local trims and trims manufacturer to buyer to show their expertise.
Compliance
Five deadly incidents from November 2012 through May 2013 brought worker safety and labor violations in Bangladesh to world attention putting pressure on big global clothing brands such as Primark, Loblaw, Joe Fresh, Gap, Walmart, Nike, Tchibo, Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, and retailers to respond by using their economic weight to enact change.No factory owner has ever been prosecuted over the deaths of workers. RMG insiders in Bangladesh complain about the pressure to comply and argue that RMG factory owners are hampered by a shortage of space in their rental units. In spite of this the industry exports totaled $19 billion in 2011-2012. They expected export earnings to increase to $23 billion in 2012-2013.
In 2000 garment entrepreneurs had a reputation for shirking custom duties, evading corporate taxes, remaining absent in capital markets, avoiding social projects such as education, healthcare, and disaster relief but, argued authors Quddus and Salim, these entrepreneurs took the risks needed to build the industry. Bangladesh successfully competes in the manufacturing industry by maintaining "lowest labor costs in the world." Garment workers' minimum wage was set at roughly $37 a month in 2012 but since 2010 Bangladesh's double-digit inflation with no corresponding rise in minimum wage and labor rights, has led to protests.
Solutions
One of the solutions central to the safety issue may be worker empowerment; at Rana Plaza where the biggest disaster took place, the workers were forced to work, despite imminent collapse reported on TV news the previous day. One of the ways to empower workers may be by following Toyota Production System in manufacturing.