Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) - The Bangladesh Business News (BBN) prepares the morning business round up compiling reports, published by different newspapers and news portals in Bangladesh.
US for improving worker safety: The US is continuing to press the Bangladesh government to fulfil a labour-related action plan designed to restore the country's eligibility for the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP), administration officials said on Monday. Some progress has been made but more needs to be done, the US officials in Washington said in a conference call with reporters in advance of the first anniversary of the Rana Plaza collapse on April 24. New labour laws have been promulgated but regulations are yet to be implemented, Bloomberg BNA reported, quoting unnamed officials. They also said the laws fall short of raising the labour standards in export processing zones to the national level. They said there have been some improvements in workplace safety measures and cited an increased number of inspectors and inspections.
Sub-contracting root cause of safety risks in BD RMG: Indirect sourcing, a non-transparent practice of sub-contracting, is the root cause of safety risks and poor working conditions in readymade garment (RMG) sector in Bangladesh, a study reveals. Additionally, the two major remedial plans, launched last year by the Accord and the Alliance, have failed to address the risk factors caused by indirect sourcing, it said. Though indirect sourcing has helped invigorate the garment industry and Bangladesh's economy, global brands doing business in Bangladesh need to assess the overall condition of factories and address the most urgent risks, the report added.
Lack of govt effort holds back exports to India: Bangladesh’s export to India has stagnated as the country is failing to reap the benefit of duty-free market access due to lack of government effort and coordination, said economists in a dialogue on Tuesday. They said non-tariff barriers like certification and accreditation and cumbersome procedure and documentation put by India and local infrastructure crisis, inadequate custom and port facility had long been persisting because of lack of government effort. ‘I believe there is big problems of willingness and coordination of the government as we know and have been talking about these problems for long but still there is no solution,’ said Centre for Policy Dialogue distinguished fellow Debapriya Bhattacharya.
Bangladesh to launch BDT 2.0bn re-financing scheme for BDT 10 account holders: The central bank of Bangladesh is going to launch a re-financing scheme worth BDT 2.0 billion to provide loans to BDT 10 account holders, officials said. A proposal was approved at a meeting of the board of directors held on Tuesday with Bangladesh Bank (BB) Governor Atiur Rahman in the chair, officials said. Under the scheme, the BB will provide the fund to the commercial banks and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) at 5.0 percent interest rate. The banks are allowed to disburse the collateral-free loan to the BDT 10 account holders at maximum 12 percent interest while the non-government organisations (NGOs) will charge up to 20 percent interest.
Garment exports show resilience: The one word that describes the garment sector is resilience. Exports beat doomsayers, rising around 16 percent to $23.86 billion year-on-year during April 2013 to March 2014 despite industrial disasters like the Rana Plaza building collapse. “Our apparel exports are on a growth trajectory as major global brands are working with local garment makers to improve workplace safety,” said Mustafizur Rahman, executive director of Centre for Policy Dialogue.
ADP implementation rate 43 per cent until March: The performance of the government agencies concerned was poor in development project execution until the third quarter of the current fiscal. They could not pick up the rate of project execution even in a relatively calm political situation prevailing since the January 5 parliamentary elections. The top ten recipients of development funds did fail to prove their efficiency until the end of the third quarter of the current fiscal, officials said Tuesday.
Mark April 24 as national mourning day: rights activists: Labour leaders yesterday urged the government to mark April 24 as a national mourning day to pay respects to those who died in the Rana Plaza tragedy last year. All the garment units should also remain shut on the day, they said on the eve of the first anniversary of the nation's deadliest industrial disaster that killed more than 1,100 workers. Labour leaders and other discussants at a seminar also demanded safe workplaces at garment factories, a database system for the workers, and rehabilitation and compensation for the workers of Rana Plaza. Bangladesh Labour Rights Forum organised the seminar on 'One Year of Rana Plaza Tragedy: Works of Garment Labours, Safety, Compensation and Today's Reality' at the National Press Club in Dhaka.
End/SSR/AD-23Apr14-7:50 am (BST)