A group of mostly US-based fashion brands and retailers pledged yesterday not to turn their backs on Bangladesh’s crucial garment industry despite a series of deadly attacks by Islamist extremists.
The recent murder of 20 hostages at a cafe in Dhaka has cast a big shadow over the industry’s future, especially as the victims included several Italians employed in the fashion trade.
But the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, which represents more than two dozen North American fashion brands and retailers, said its members remained committed to buying garments from Bangladesh.
“Despite these unspeakable tragedies, the Alliance and our member companies will continue to stay the course,” James Moriarty, country director for the Alliance told a teleconference.
The alliance, which includes major brands such as Gap and Walmart, was set up to improve safety standards at Bangladesh’s estimated 4,500 garment factories in the aftermath of the 2013 Rana Plaza disaster.
More than 1,100 textile workers were killed in April 2013 when a six-storey complex of garment factories collapsed near the capital Dhaka.
Moriarty, a former US envoy to Bangladesh, said that “improving safety for the millions of men and women who make a living in Bangladesh’s garment sector is a moral imperative.”
“As we review and update our policies to help keep our staff and contractors safe, our work to improve safety in Bangladesh’s garment factories will continue at full speed,” he added.
The Islamic State organisation claimed responsibility for killing the mainly foreign hostages in Dhaka earlier this month although the government has blamed a home-grown extremist group.
Several leading exporters have reported that some buyers have postponed visits to Bangladesh in the wake of the attack and have instead insisted on meetings in alternative venues such as Dubai or Bangkok.
However, officials from the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) say they have received assurances from retailers like H&M, which is the largest buyer from Dhaka, that they won’t shift orders.
Garment manufacturing is Bangladesh’s largest industry, accounting for 80% of the country’s annual shipments and employing some 40 percent of its industrial workforce.