Muhith slams RMG factory closures

Finance Minister AMA Muhith criticised the closure of garment factories which were found structurally flawed during inspections.

He said the closing of factories was not a good idea and the owners should have been given time to correct the faults.

According to the finance minister, “Noting can be changed overnight.”

AMA Muhith said the government has adopted various plans to overcome the garment sector crisis which followed the deadliest Rana Plaza collapse.

Accord suspended 26 factory units after its first-phase inspections.

Muhith was responding to the issue while addressing at the annual general meeting (AGM) of International Business Forum of Bangladesh (IBFB) yesterday.

The function was also addressed by State Minister for Finance and Planning MA Mannan, US Ambassador Dan W Mozena, FBCCI President Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed, SBAC Bank Chairman Amzad Hossain and IBFB President Hafizur Rahman Khan.

About the power situation, AMA Muhith said: “In last five years the government has taken many projects, some expensive though, to increase electricity production capacity, but demand remains high.”

He said the power generation capacity has, however, increased to 11,000 megawatt from 3,500 megawatt when Awami League assumes office in 2009.

Referring to Bangladeshi workers in abroad, he said 80 lakh Bangladeshi workers are employed around the globe and the number will increase to 1.2 crore soon.

“The expatriate workers, who are effectively participating in their home country’s development, must be counted in the value of national asset.”

Besides, the minister appreciated the private sector’s role in increasing the revenue income of the government.

US Ambassador in Bangladesh Dan W Mozena said April 24 was a day of “unspeakable, unimaginable horrors as tonnes of fallen concrete crushed the lives of so many.”

The stakeholders of Bangladesh’s readymade garment industry have taken important steps down the path towards ensuring international standards in factory structures and workers’ rights, said Ambassador Mozena.

“Nonetheless, the road ahead is long and the obstacles will be many as some endeavor to thwart this transformation of Bangladesh’s RMG sector, but I am confident that Bangladesh will succeed in this historic undertaking.”

On Trade and Investment Cooperation Forum Agreement (TICFA), Dan Mozena said the next week will witness the inaugural session of the Ticfa meeting in Dhaka.

“TICFA will also include a discussion of efforts underway in Bangladesh to restore generalised system of preferences (GSP) in the United States.”

He said the efforts are largely synonymous with Bangladesh’s campaign to transform the apparel sector to bring worker safety and labour rights to international standards in the wake of the Rana Plaza building collapse and the Tazreen Fashions fire.