RMG sector needs focused attention and guardian like care
The RMG sector needs a full fledged ministry to work full time and exclusively for it. The establishment of such a new ministry would be very consistent with the very pressing need to hedge the principal economic sector of the country from pitfalls in the short, medium and long terms
Md Amin Ibrahim
Presently, the problems of the RMG sector are looked into and responded, if any, by the Ministry of Industries. The RMG industries are but only a part of the concern of this ministry which has to give its attention to so many industrial sectors of the country. Understandably, the RMG sector in this situation cannot get the total and very dedicated attention of the industry ministry notwithstanding the latters intention to the contrary.
Therefore, in order to provide relief to this overburdened ministry as well as to cater adequately to the needs for focused attention to the RMG sector, the Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) has been pleading for long to set up exclusively a separate ministry for the RMG sector. So far, this suggestion has gone unheeded although there is full merit in it.
The RMG sector needs a full fledged ministry to work full time and exclusively for it. The establishment of such a new ministry would be very consistent with the very pressing need to hedge the principal economic sector of the country from pitfalls in the short, medium and long terms.
Only a ministry devoted entirely to the upliftment of the RMG sector can attend to the many and often complex requirements and problems that need to be met and solved respectively.
For instance, the BGMEA has been lobbying in the USA for getting duty free access of its products in that country which is the single most important market for Bangladeshi RMG producers. But the Bangladesh government also shares responsibility for pushing through a legislation in the legislative bodies of the USA to this end. The lobbying for the duty free access is now being done mainly by BGMEA with the governments Ministry of Foreign affairs only playing a secondary role to this end.
However, one correctly anticipates that government to government contacts or lobbying are also significantly required to achieve a positive outcome to these efforts. If a separate ministry for the RMG sector existed, it could apply itself singularly and intensely to the lobbying exercise.
Meanwhile, garments producers and exporters have been making serious charges of sabotage against them. They are saying that buyers growing disinterest in them stems from various factors but the most pronounced ones seem to be a kind of apprehension that Bangladesh has lost its stability to be able to produce and supply apparels without disruption like in the past. The buyers put the highest premium usually on unbroken peace and quiet in the exporting countries for the security and safety of their business.
Export cargoes that do not arrive on time or arrive late can prove to be serious liabilities for businesses. Thus, the buyers are reluctant to maintain a high level of business relationship with a country which is portrayed as one where workers in its garments industries are seething with discontent and can trigger large scale rioting any time.
Planned violence on the basis of false rumours are noted against the garments industries. Who instigates such rumours and why ? The Chairman of the Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and the Chairman of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) in their reactions to the media from time to time were quite candid in saying that the incidents are engineered ones. They observed that attempts at deliberately creating unrest in the garments industries were premediated by some quarters who seek to destroy the flourishing garments sector of Bangladesh to promote their vested interests.
No doubt the workers have their grievances but the same are not fierce and expressions of the same are not spontaneous. Strangers who joined these incidents who appeared to be the most unruly. They were activated as if by remote control from far away and started smashing and grabbing anything of the industries they could put their hands on. 400 garments industries were damaged in varying degrees in recent years.
Allegations were made sometime ago after some incidents that foreign funded non government organizations (NGOs) were found providing cash hand outs and birayani ( a mouth-watering local dish) to young thugs who were anything but workers and bent on vandalizing the garments industries.
Direct physical assaults on the industries is one aspect of their rising security problems. Fire incidents which look like acts of sabotage are also very worryingly noted. Thus, the physically threatened garments industries also need focused attention from a ministry created to look after directly their security related needs.
There are many other areas where a full time ministry for the RMG sector can contribute very well to the development and protection of this all important sector. Therefore, government needs to act upon the BGMEA proposal with a view to adopting it immediately.
The writer is a researcher on developmental issues
