BGMEA President Faruque Hassan met with Dr. Mark Anner, Professor of Labor and Employment Relations, and Director of the Center for Global Workers' Rights at Penn State University.

The meeting took place in New York on September 27.

They discussed various contemporary issues of Bangladesh’s RMG industry where the issues of ethical sourcing and apparel price decline got due importance.

Faruque Hassan expressed thanks to Professor Mark Anner for his research initiatives on a crucial subject like ethical sourcing and pricing in the global apparel industry.

He also thanked him for conducting the survey report titled ‘Abandoned? The impact of Covid-19 on workers and businesses at the bottom of global garment supply chains.” The report created a huge global attention and raised call for responsible sourcing behavior from brands.

The BGMEA President shared how price decline coupled with increased production cost has put pressure on manufacturers and made their recovery from the pandemic impacts difficult.

He said the cost of raw materials along with freight fare has gone up during the pandemic period, which is putting extra pressure on the manufacturers.

He said the apparel industry of Bangladesh earned global recognitions for its incredible strides in workplace safety and sustainability.

Despite huge investment in safety and sustainability, suppliers are not getting justified prices. On the contrary, the price of our apparel is declining every year and nobody can justify a lower price to produce socially fair goods, the BGMEA President said.

He said BGMEA would cooperate and collaborate with Professor Mark Anner in his research and study on the industry.