Deepen worker-owner relations: Bernicat

Star Business Report

US Ambassador Marcia Bernicat yesterday suggested further strengthening of industrial relations

between the owners and the workers in the garment sector to settle disputes and avoid unrest.
The workers have their voices and the manufacturers also have their voices. So they should sit
together to resolve problems, she said at a media briefing in Ashulia.
Bernicat said differences arise when workers and owners do not talk to each other.
The briefing took place at the office of the Workers Community Centre run by Awaj Foundation, a
rights group. The centre works for the local people in the areas of health, housing and rights.
Earlier, the US diplomat visited the offices of Bangladesh Independent Garment Workers Union
Federation and Bangladesh Center for Workers Solidarity.
Bernicat said she talked to a number of workers, people from management and factory owners.
They said they do not have any problems because they have unions.
She said if there is a transparent relation between the workers and the owners and they trust each other,
then there will be no dispute.
The trust and relationship between the workers and management is just like a true relationship between
a husband and a wife, she said.
The envoy said when workers have no ways to communicate with management, they do not trust the
management and vice versa. In such cases, a trouble maker can inflict damage, she added.
So again, our goal as Bangladesh's friend is to prepare how we can help in a small way for those two
groups to help find ways so they trust each other, Bernicat said.
She said there are some mechanisms to work together such as social dialogue. The International Labour
Organisation is working on the issue. Some factory owners also went to Germany to take part in
trainings on social dialogue.
On the suspended Generalised System of Preferences (GSP), Bernicat said Bangladesh needs to do
more on labour rights and workplace safety to win back the preferential trade treatment.
The commerce ministry has twice submitted the update to the US Trade Representative, informing it
about the progress Bangladesh has made in line with the 16 conditions set by Washington.
Bernicat suggested manufacturers bargain hard with buyers to earn more to pay more to workers.
There is a lot of ways to earn more. Look at the value chain. Bargain hard.

Salman on global rich list

Staff Correspondent

Bangladeshi businessman Salman F Rahman is among the world's richest people.

With $1.3 billion net worth, Salman ranked 1,685th among 2,257 billionaires across the globe,
according to Hurun Global Rich List 2017. China-based research firm Hurun Global released the list on
Tuesday.
According to the list, Salman is from pharmaceutical industry.
He is the vice-chairman of Beximco. He is also a former president of the Federation of Bangladesh
Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI).
Bill Gates, the co-founder of the US technology giant Microsoft, retained the top position on the Hurun
list, with a net worth of $81 billion.
India's Mukesh Ambani ranked 29th with a net worth of $26 billion.
Last year, the research firm published a list of 2,188 billionaires from across the world.
Weak apparel exports pare down earnings in Feb

Refayet Ullah Mirdha

Export earnings declined 4.49 percent year-on-year to $2.72 billion in February due to a slowdown in
apparel shipments that account for more than 80 percent of national exports.
February's receipts were 21.49 percent less than that in January at $3.31 billion, according to data from
Export Promotion Bureau. The amount was also 9.64 percent lower than the monthly target of $3.01
billion, data showed.
However, overall exports in July-February increased 3.22 percent to $22.83 billion.
Apparel shipments went down due to a fall of the euro against the US dollar as well as the Brexit
issues, the US elections and a decline in consumption in the West, said Siddiqur Rahman, president of
Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association.
Rahman said the UK is the third largest export destination for Bangladesh. But exports to this
destination began declining due to Brexit that took place in June last year.
Garment shipments to the UK declined 5.19 percent to $1.53 billion in the first half of 2016-17.
Usually, Bangladesh exports apparel worth more than $3 billion to the UK in a year.
Britons are suffering from an inflationary pressure due to a fall in the value of the pound.
Similarly, apparel export to the US, the single largest export destination for Bangladesh, declined a bit
because of a volatile economy after the national elections.
Of the top 10 exporters to the US, apparel shipments of only three countries were in the negative
territory in January. Among the three, Bangladesh's garment export declined 2.31 percent to $500
million in that month.
Garment exports to the US from India, Pakistan and Vietnam, the major competitors of Bangladesh in
the global apparel markets, increased in January.
People in the western world are now spending more on smart gadgets than on clothing. This is a major
reason for a fall in consumption of clothing items worldwide, Rahman said.
In July-February, earning from the garment sector was recorded at $18.63 billion, which is 2.82 percent
higher than that in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year, data showed.
The February receipt from garment export was 5.64 percent lower than the periodic target at $19.75
billion.
We need to grow at 12.25 percent every year to reach our export target at $50 billion at the end of
2021. But we are growing at only 2 to 4 percent now, Rahman said.
The jute and jute goods sector was one of the top export performers in the July-February period, with
shipments rising 15.28 percent year-on-year to $646.62 million. It was also higher than its periodic
target of $626.83 million.
Shipments of leather and leather goods grew well during the eight-month period as well. It stood at
$827.62 million, up 9.95 percent year-on-year. This segment too hit its periodic target of $793.30
million.
Furniture exports rose 16.84 percent to $28.52 million and pharmaceuticals 9.94 percent to $60.19
million.
Home textile exports increased 3.16 percent to $500.15 million and plastic products 39.87 percent to
$82.37 million, riding on the back of a 10 percent cash incentive on shipments.
Some sectors performed poorly during the period. Exports of frozen and live fishes declined 3.89
percent to $357.95 million. However, it was 1.75 percent higher than the target of $351.78 million.
Exports of petroleum byproducts declined 31.40 percent to $158.04 million.
The government has set the export target of $37 billion for this fiscal year, which is 8 percent higher
than the receipts in fiscal 2015-16.

Illegal Building: BGMEA seeks 3 years for demolition

The 15-storey BGMEA Complex on the Begunbari canal and Hatirjheel lake in the heart of Dhaka. STAR file
photo

Staff Correspondent

Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association yesterday sought three years from the
Supreme Court for shifting the offices from the 15-storey BGMEA building in Hatirjheel.
The SC may hear the petition today, Barrister Imtiaz Moinul Islam, a lawyer for the BGMEA, told The
Daily Star.
He said his client sought three years as the offices there were dealing with many important issues,
including export and import of garment items and accessories and those needed to be preserved.
The BGMEA will demolish the building after shifting its offices, Imtiaz added.
On March 5, the SC dismissed a petition filed by the BGMEA seeking review of its judgment
upholding a 2011 High Court order for demolishing the structure, built illegally on Begunbari canal and
Hatirjheel lake.
It also asked the BGMEA to submit a petition by March 9 (today) stating the time it needed to knock
down the building.
Attorney General Mahbubey Alam, representing the Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk), on that
day said the apex garment body might need a year to move and demolish the structure.
But BGMEA lawyer Kamrul Haque Siddiqui said they needed at least three years.
The building's foundation was laid in 1998 by the then prime minister Sheikh Hasina and it was opened
in 2006 by the then PM Khaleda Zia.
The HC verdict had ordered the government to demolish the building within three months, saying it
was built on land acquired through forgery and filled with earth illegally.
Later, the SC stayed the HC verdict following a petition by the BGMEA.
On June 2 last year, the SC gave a short order, dismissing the BGMEA appeal and upholding the HC
verdict.
The SC released the full verdict on November 8, asking the BGMEA to immediately demolish the
building with its own money. Otherwise, Rajuk would do it within 90 days of receiving the order and
realise the cost from the BGMEA.
The BGMEA submitted the review petition on December 8.