Promoting ‘Made in Bangladesh’ as a prestigious brand

Last week I had an opportunity to speak at a webinar jointly organised by The Business Standard and Christian Aid Bangladesh in collaboration with Shojag. The webinar was on "Dissemination of good practices of the RMG factories in the time of Covid-19". 

The participation in the webinar gave me an opportunity to share some of the good practices apparel factories in Bangladesh have continued even during the Covid-19 pandemic. Stakeholders from inside and outside the industry also participated in the event. All of them were amazed and inspired hearing the stories.

Unfortunately, as the Rana Plaza accident has seized global media attention, the stories of transformation and development of Bangladesh apparel industry are not coming to the fore. The difference in Bangladesh apparel industry before and after the Rana Plaza is like night and day.

But still now, more often than not, a grim picture of our industry is depicted by the international media. One only needs to follow a few international media outlets to understand the outside perceptions of Bangladesh apparel industry. It's the inclination of the media outlets to focus on the negative as we all know that bad news sells. 

The image portrayed of our industry in the international arena is one of chaos and full of crisis. Even newspapers of international repute like the New York Times linked the recent fire incident of Shajeeb Group (a beverage company serving the local market) at Narayanganj with the readymade garment industry of the industry.

We do not know whether this inclination is intentional or misquoted by the local stringers of the international newspaper. Any workplace should be safe, and loss of any life is pathetic and unexpected. But the misrepresentation of the report is surely designed to upset western people buying 'Made in Bangladesh' apparel. A western consumer being misled by the news commented below the New York Times report: "If we don't start boycotting Made in Bangladesh products, nothing is going to change. It's the only power we have!"

Very often we see repetition of such mistakes in the international media. Sometimes they misrepresent the factories at Keraniganj - which serve the local market - as our export-oriented apparel factories or sometimes accidents in other industries are portrayed as accidents of our industry. And such examples are galore. 

I will not argue that our apparel industry is now all clean and perfect. We must not be complacent and we believe there is always a scope for improvement. But it will not be an exaggeration to say that Bangladesh apparel industry is now one of the safest in the world.

The industry has undergone tremendous transformation in the last eight years. The safety transformation has been done through unprecedented collaboration of the global brands and retailers, manufacturers, government, ILO, development partners as well as local and global unions.

A recent survey report by Hong Kong-based supply chain compliance solutions provider, QIMA, ranked Bangladesh's apparel industry second in "Ethical Manufacturing" with a score of 7.7, only behind Taiwan. The ethical auditing report covered a wide range of compliance and ethical manufacturing issues, e.g., hygiene, health and safety, waste management, child and young labour, labour practices, including forced labour, worker representation, disciplinary practices and discrimination, working hours and wages etc.

The image portrayed of our industry in the international arena is one of chaos and full of crisis. Even newspapers of international repute like the New York Times linked the recent fire incident of Shajeeb Group (a beverage company serving the local market) at Narayanganj with the readymade garment industry of the industry.

After addressing the safety concerns, the apparel industry of Bangladesh is also making steady strides in sustainability. The highest number of green garment factories in the world is now located in Bangladesh. Our country at present is the home of 144 apparel factories which are certified as LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) by US Green Building Council (USGBC). Among them, 41 are LEED Platinum-rated and 89 are LEED Gold-rated factories. Moreover, 500 more apparel factories are in the offing to get the LEED certifications. 

Unfortunately, these positive stories of Bangladesh apparel industry remained untold and unheard to western people. Then, how can we portray a positive picture of the industry internationally? Our national media can play a key role here. They can highlight the positive stories of the industry.

In the age of digitalisation, every story is powerful as the reports of national media will be very much available online and accessible to the western audience. International media also often take clues from national media. When positive stories will be flooded by our national media; in the age of digitalisation and social media, it will also be difficult for international media to mislead the readers. 

I am not saying that the media would not do any constructive criticism of the industry; they must continue it as they are doing. But to brand Bangladesh apparel industry - the industry which is the lifeline of our economy - we all have a role to play. We all need to think about how we can change the image of the industry and come together to present a united front to the global audience. Let's work together to promote 'Made in Bangladesh' as a prestigious brand in the world.

The writer is the Managing Director of Team Group. He is also a Director of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers & Exporters Association (BGMEA).