The garment sector has witnessed a substantial growth in exports this year with fixing the majority of workplace safety hazards except year-end labour unrest ahead of the national election.
Export earnings from the country's readymade garment (RMG) including knit and woven items stood at $30.02 billion during the first eleven months of 2018. It is expected to reach around $32.5 billion with a possible growth of more than 11 per cent.
In 2017, RMG products fetched US$29.21 billion marking a 1.89 per cent growth while the figure was $28.66 billion in 2016.
Export earnings in first eleven months of this year were nearly 3.0 per cent higher than that of RMG proceeds in 2017.
When asked, Md Siddiqur Rahman, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), said buyers' confidence has been coming back as a competitive garment sourcing destinations followed by the measures that have been taken to improve workplace safety.
Some 2,200 garment factories under the western retailers' platforms--Accord and Alliance-- have fixed more than 89 per cent of the safety hazards identified by their engineers, he explained.
Besides, he said, some 80 garment factories have been certified by the United States Green Building Council for their environment-friendly units. As many as 320 factories are also under the process, he added.
"After the Rana Plaza collapse, these safety measures have helped overcome the image crisis and bring back the buyers' confidence," Mr Rahman told the FE.
Moreover, all the ports remain open round the clock, thus helping reduce the long lead time, he said linking diversification of garment products with manufacturing value-added items for such good export performance.
Exports to US have been increasing over the year as orders are also shifting from China to Bangladesh following the trade war between China and US, he said.
Though the tenure of both Accord and Alliance expired in 2018, later it has been extended for six months. Retailers' platforms were formed after the Rana Plaza building collapse in 2013.
Alliance announced that it would not seek further extension while there has been huge pressure from international arena including the European Union, the largest export destination of Bangladeshi exports, and global rights groups for allowing the new Accord until a government-formed regulatory body becomes ready to monitor all the safety activities.
Wage structure for garment workers was revised upward by 51 per cent to Tk 8,000, effective from December 2018, for an entry level worker from Tk 5,300 set in 2013.
Apparel sector leader for the first time requested the government in December 2017 for the same. But at the end of the year, there were outbreaks of labour unrest over the wage structure.
Workers in several garment factories at Ashulia, Gazipur and Narayanganj since December 09 observed work abstention over wage issues as they believed that basic payment under a few grades would decline, once the new wage structure takes effect.
Unrest and demonstrations continued in few areas including Gazipur and Mirpur ahead of the election till December 26 despite repeated calls and moves from stakeholders including the government, factory owners and workers' leaders.
A study conducted by Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies (BILS) showed that basic pay for RMG workers is one of the lowest in the country's industrial subsectors, including tannery, pharmaceutical, private jute mills, shrimp and plastic industries.
The basic pay element of gross wages for RMG workers has also been declining over the years as it constituted 67.69 per cent of the gross minimum wage in 2006 which is now equivalent to 51.25 per cent fixed in 2018.
