The High Commission of Canada in Bangladesh and Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) jointly organized a seminar on 'Greening RMG as CSR in Bangladesh' at BGMEA Apparel Club on 22 March.
Senior Commerce Secretary Hedayetullah Al Mamoon, ndc, attended the seminar as chief guest and Canadian High Commissioner H.E. Benoît-Pierre Laramée as guest of honor.
BGMEA President Md. Siddiqur Rahman chaired the program; while BGMEA Senior Vice President Faruque Hasan, BGMEA Vice President Fedous Perves Bivon, Chairman of AKH Group Delwar Hossain, Pro Vice Chancellor of BGMEA University of Fashion and Technology (BUFT) Prof. Dr. Engr. Ayub Nabi Khan, and Alastair Currie, Principal Mechanical Engineer and Philip Proctor, Managing Director of Reed Consulting Bangladesh Ltd. were the speakers in the seminar.
The seminar focused on the 'Green' efforts into the Bangladesh's readymade garment (RMG) sector in the context of CSR. It covers four topics to take a green approach in a RMG factory. Presentations were also given in the seminar on Step By Step Approach to Achieve Green Status, Green Energy and Features in Green Building, Health and Safety in RMG for Improve Performance, University Shaping up Future Graduates for Greening RMG Industry.
The BGMEA President in his address highlighted the vision of the industry to export $50 billion by 2021, and said the industry envisions to achieve the target sustainably. He said that 26 Bangladeshi garment factories have been certified LEED by the US Green Building Council (USGBC) while 100 more are registered with USGB for the certification.
Canadian High Commissioner H.E. Benoît-Pierre Laramée stressed the importance of Bangladeshi garment entrepreneurs to move up the supply chain by improving productivity, developing skills, improving factory environment, adopting advanced technologies and international standards.
Senior Commerce Secretary Hedayetullah Al Mamoon, ndc, appreciated the initiative and thanked Canada and BGMEA for organizing the seminar and mentioned that the initiative would help the industry understand the need for green manufacturing process complying international standards.