BGMEA President Faruque Hassan said more women should come forward and step in for mid and top-level management positions in garment factories. 

While it’s true that around 60 percent of the total workforce in the RMG industry are female, the presence of women in the supervisory and managerial positions is still not significant, he said.

“However, the picuture has started changing. It’s really encouraging to see that the participation of women at the management level in the RMG industry is increasing. They are taking challenges and responsibilities of top positions in merchandising, fashion designing, industrial engineering, and other functional departments, and performing well.” 

Faruque Hassan made the observations while addressing the inauguration of Textile Tech Association held at the auditorium of Applied Human Science (AHS) in Dhaka on January 15.

BGMEA Directors Barrister Vidiya Amrit Khan and Inamul Haq Khan (Bablu), Principal of Applied Human Science Professor Ismat Rumina, founder of Textile Tech Association Sabrina Sharmeen, fashion designer Bibi Russell also were also present at the inaugural ceremony.

In his speech BGMEA President Faruque Hassan said with an aim to improve skills, especially for women, BGMEA is setting up a center for innovation, efficiency and OSH. 

“The center aims to develop the industry to adapt with the Industry 4.0, with particular focus on building the capacity of women. We welcome Textile Tech Association for collaboration if this aligns our agenda.”

“The next big agenda is to inspire and train-up women for taking leadership within the industry and we are trying to create a more conducive environment. BGMEA University of Fashion and Technology (BUFT) was established to provide higher education opportunities in fashion and technology.”

“Besides, we are working to create higher education opportunity for girls working in garment factories. Currently more than 60 young female workers have enrolled in the Asian University for Women to pursue higher studies.”

He expressed his hope that Textile Tech Association would play a significant role in paving the path for more women to pursue better opportunities in our textile and clothing industry.