Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)– UK-based retail giant Tesco and the Department for International Development (DFID) of the British government have jointly set up an Apparel Skills Foundation (ASF) in the capital Dhaka to support the country’s ready-made garment sector.
The ASF is expected to train up owners, managers and workers of more than 100 factories to improve the lives of 250,000 garment workers in Bangladesh by 2015.
The ASF has been launched Saturday with an aim to equip the industry with training, expertise and tools to improve productivity while improving conditions, pay and opportunities for factory workers, a Tesco statement said.
Achieving an overall long-term competitiveness and sustainability of the industry in Bangladesh are the main objectives of the ASF. At the same time they want to show managers how to improve productivity and working conditions at the same time.
The foundation will train factory owners and officials to improve their skill in managing workers, develop ethical leadership and new production techniques to increase productivity, the statement said.
The ASF has already started its pilot programs, which include reducing long working hours, giving workers productivity bonuses and implementing mentoring and buddy systems for new workers.
The programs of the foundation also include improvement of working environment and making the factories more productive and sustainable.
“The Skills Foundation is a smart, sustainable business solution,” Tesco’s Executive Director for Corporate and Legal Affairs, Ms Dame Lucy Neville-Rolfe told at the opening function of the foundation at Uttara in Dhaka recently.
BBN/SSR/AD-16Nov12-11:55 pm (BST)
