Detailed GSR Report 2015

CONFERENCE FOLLOW-UP

CONFERENCE 11 December 2014 | Dhaka | Bangladesh

Report on the 3rd Global Social Responsibility Conference A Highlight on Findings, Lessons Learnt and Recommendations

Prepared By

Daniel Seidl Adnan Nafis Tawhidur Rashid Andreana de Jong

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Cooperation Partner

Platinum Sponsor

Partner

Supporting Sponsors

Published By: Bangladesh German Chamber of Commerce & Industry German House, 1st Floor House #10/C Road #90, Gulshan 2 Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh Tel: +880 2 8826480 Fax: +880 2 8824858 Mail: info@bgcci.com

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11 December 2014 | Dhaka | Bangladesh

CONTENT About BGCCI

Page 5

From the Master of Ceremonies

Page 6

From the GSR Team

Page 7

In Retrospect: Evolution of the Conference

Page 8

Motivation of the Conference

Page 11

Brief and Flow of the Program

Page 11

Media Coverage of the Conference

Page 16

Lessons Learnt from the Conference

Page 18

CSR in Motion

Page 34

Profile of the Sponsors

Page 35

Profile of the Speakers

Page 37

List of Participants of the Conference

Page 44

5 About BGCCI With more than 600 member companies, Bangladesh German Chamber of Commerce & Industry (BGCCI) is the biggest bilateral business chamber in Bangladesh. Our goal is to promote trade between Bangladesh, Germany and Europe. We highlight trends, opportunities and challenges in key market sectors and share membership news. We facilitate our members in finding business opportunities through extensive network. BGCCI provides a platform for all members to grow their bilateral business activities. BGCCI organizes key bilateral events, including the biennial German Trade Show and the annual German National Day, in cooperation with the German Embassy.

Daniel Seidl,

Executive Director of BGCCI He has been in the position of the Executive Director of the Bangladesh German Chamber of Commerce & Industry (BGCCI) since 2009. Before coming to Bangladesh he worked over 15 years as business consultant and Director in different companies in the field of strategy and marketing. His MBA he achieved at the private University Witten/Herdecke, Germany and received a stipend from Harvard, USA. He was the Master of Ceremonies of the Conference.

Adnan Nafis Head of Trade Promotion, Social Responsibility & Consultancy of BGCCI He has been serving at BGCCI since 2012. With extensive experience of working in different organizations from Bangladesh and Thailand, trade Promotion, trade diversification and branding are his forte. He has lead and conducted different research projects for more than four years and has more than eight publications about Bangladesh Ready Made Garments sector, trade promotion and diversification. He is working as Lead Consultant for Different International organizations in the field of Digital Payment system, Vocational education (TVET), RMG & Leather sector. He has worked for some of the top organizations in Bangladesh, Thailand and China.

Tawhidur Rashid Head of Events, Media & Publication of BGCCI He is a passionate communicator and wordsmith. He has been working with BGCCI since 2012. During his stint, he successfully set up the an active Media & Publication wing of the chamber. He is the Managing Editor of the quarterly magazine: Emerging Bangladesh. Besides, his job responsibilities include managing the PR and communication of the chamber. He has designed the communication strategy of the 2nd and 3rd GSR Conference. His interest lies in emerging sectors like IT and health sector.

Tanzeena Khan Assistant Manager, Trade Promotion of BGCCI She has been serving in BGCCI since 2013. She is also the representative of Messe Dusseldorf, Germany in Bangladesh. She is involved in trade promotion, coordinating events like Global Social Responsibly Conference & German Trade Show and a few research projects of BGCCI. She received Training on Capacity Building & Market Access by GIZ, EU & BGCCI. She has working experience in the largest Trade Association in Bangladesh - BGMEA in the Research, Development and Trade Information (RDTI) Cell. She completed her MBA from American International University - Bangladesh with distinction for academic excellence.

Andreana de Jong Assistant. Manager Marketing and PR BGCCI Andreana de Jong is specialized in international communication management. She has communication and PR & Publicity experience working for NGO’s and government organizations in the Netherlands, Mauritius, and Bangladesh. Her degree in International Communication Management was obtained in Rotterdam, the Netherlands and she also holds a degree in Digital Marketing. She has recently joined the BGCCI team in the Marketing and PR department, and is looking forward to her time in Bangladesh. She co-authored the GSR Conference follow-up report.

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11 December 2014 | Dhaka | Bangladesh

From the Master of Ceremonies

“Yes, the planet got destroyed, but for a beautiful moment in time we created a lot of value for shareholders.”

Daniel Seidl Executive Director, BGCCI

The theme of the 3rd GSR Conference 2014 is “Shareholder Value Vs Social Responsibility”. I Personally consider this topic to be a very time appropriate one.

For decades, businesses around the world are focused on making quick profits without pondering much over the sustainability issues. Many of those ventures proved to be bane for the environment and community they operated in and as a result failed to thrive after sometime. On the other hand, business, which cared for viable growth, not only managed to stand the test of time, but also kept enriching the people and planet besides making profits. What does this history teach us?

It shows that shouldering the responsibilities help us in the long run whereas denying them in the name of making profits will take us nowhere.

With the first GSR Conference in 2010, we wanted to create a platform where German Businesses would ‘seek and find’ answers to questions pertaining to their sustainability needs. In 2013, with the 2nd GSR Conference, we wanted to widen our horizon and shared the European perspective with our participants. The conference helped us think bigger as we looked through a green lens at the possibilities, barriers and solutions to build a green economy, We discussed on topics like Water, Energy, Waste and Compliance, which helped the

participants with insights shared by our distinguished key note speakers and panelists. Many of the companies who participated were benefitted with the ideas shared from global industry experts and change makers.

The 3rd GSR Conference will provide us a better opportunity to reach out to businesses that like to give back to the society and environment. Insights and stories from real life business cases helped them realize about their potential to come up with proper solutions to problems they were already facing.

Panels like RMG & Fire Safety, Leather Industry, Environment, Social protection of Workers and TEVT were highly important in today’s context and we are glad to inform you that our participants enjoyed the discussion and took notes to implement recommendations in fields they work.

As Bangladesh dreams to become a middle-income country by 2021, it must adopt the best possible solutions with its limited resources to ensure the sustainability of businesses that will back its economy for days to come.

GSR Conference provides a platform to discuss about those solutions. Read on the full report about various panels and their recommendations and share with us your valuable feedback.

7 From the GSR Team

Adnan Nafis Head of Trade Promotion, Social Responsibility & Consultancy

It is my pleasure to be able to bring you the 3rd GSR conference. After the success from 2010 and 2013 of Global Social Responsibility Conference, the Bangladesh German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BGGCI) organized the 3rd edition themed: “Shareholder Value vs Social Responsibility” held in Dhaka on the 11th of December, 2014.

Since the last decade, Bangladesh has experienced economic progress with a growth of approximately 6% due to increase in investments in various industrial sectors mainly attracted by low labor costs. Textile, agribusiness, construction and service sectors were sectors that were the most impacted by the development. Bangladesh is now facing enormous challenges in relation to water contamination, energy shortage, waste and social protection issues that if not timely and properly addressed, will undermine its growth potential and can cause harm towards the society and the environment.

In order to respond to these challenges,

BGCCI, in cooperation with its partners, aims to foster a better understanding of social responsibility among the participants of the 3rd Global Social Responsibility Conference, highlighting the benefit of addressing environmental and social impacts with innovative and responsible solutions.

3rd Global Social Responsibility Conference is about changing the mindset and setting the green foot forward to attain a better, greener and more responsible tomorrow. Top managers, experts, ministers and ambassadors from different European countries, the USA and Bangladesh took part in this conference.

The conference organized by BGCCI in cooperation with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, which works on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) with gracious sponsorship of the Embassy of the Kingdom of Netherlands as the Platinum Sponsor.

German Embassy was the Partner and TUV Rhineland and BSCI were the Supporting Sponsor.

The conference featured key presentations and panel discussions on Ready-Made Garment & Fire Safety, Leather Industry, Environment, Social Protection of Workers and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET). It provided a platform for dialogue between European and American companies and their Bangladeshi counterparts, while suggesting useful recommendations for policy makers to develop tools for sustainable development.

I would like to mention The GSR Team: Tawhidur Rashid, Head of Media and Communication and Tanzeena Khan, Assistant Manager, Trade Promotion for organizing and implementing this mega event. Their relentless effort and dedication have made this event a grand one.

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11 December 2014 | Dhaka | Bangladesh

More than 300 participant business leaders from Germany and Bangladesh

IN RETROSPECT: THE EVOLUTION OF THE CONFERENCE For the growth of a nation like Bangladesh, monitoring the progress and applying the right business measures to limit the stress on environmental, social, and labor conditions are highly imperative. The country must ensure that growth goes hand in hand with sustainable compliance solutions. With a view to facilitating that demand, BGCCI as a pioneer organized the first successful conference in 2010 to allow a platform of discussion and exchanging ideas for national and international stakeholders. The lessons learned and recommendations made on that platform have paved the way for sustainable development in Bangladesh.

In 2010, the first conference was held where more than 300 business leaders from Germany and Bangladesh discussed strategies and best practices for companies to address social and environmental challenges from the perspective of global social responsibility.

Following the great success achieved by the 1st Global Social Responsibility conference, BGCCI and its partners decided to put more emphasis on promoting the wider approach of CSR, which entails promoting the triple bottom line strategy, thus complementing social economic elements with environmental considerations.

The focus was to seek and find answers to questions pertaining to the sustainability needs of German Businesses.

2010

1ST GSR CONFERENCE

Panels:  Social business panel  Corporate social responsibility panel

There are two kinds of business: one is for making profit, while the other is social business meant to solve social problems.

Prof. Dr. Mohammad Yunus - Nobel Peace Price Winner

The focus was sharing European perspective with participants “ Through a Green Lens”.

2013

2ND GSR CONFERENCE

Panels:  Green Economy panel  Water panel  Energy efficiency panel  The waste management panel  Compliance panel

Despite the violent Hartals, more than 250 participants from public and private sector and civil society

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The focus was ‘shareholder value versus social responsibility’.

2014 3RD GSR CONFERENCE

A Green Economy requires new business strategies and approaches in resource efficiency, investment in clean technologies, the development of alternative products, and the ability to obtain value from unavoidable waste.

Social innovation and appropriate technology are required to address environmental challenges in Bangladesh. Enhanced CSR in this context can help to create that green economy in Bangladesh.

H.E. William Hanna Former EU Ambassador in Bangladesh

Panels:  RMG & fire safety panel  Leather industry panel  Social protection of workers panel  Management of water, chemicals, and wastewater panel  Technical vocational educational training panel

I trust that among the EU states here in Dhaka, Germany is certainly one of those, which can play a really big role in accompanying Bangladeshi economy on its way towards Modernity. German’s strength in vocational training is acknowledged worldwide and it can make wonders in this country. For the next 7 years, I’d like to highlight the priority of the EU’s investment in skills development, and these with cross-partnership between Europe, in fact Germany and the private sector of Bangladesh in order to achieve even better growth.

H.E. Pierre Mayaudon EU Ambassador in Bangladesh

More than 450 participants from Europe, America, and Bangladesh

Sharing of best practices and encourage business matching between European & American companies and the Bandgladeshi business sector

German perspective and CSR businesses practices

2010

Sharing the European CSR perspective with different organization and sectors 2013

2014

Evolution, Scope and Reach of the GSR Conference over the years

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IN RETROSPECT: AN OVERVIEW OF KEY LESSONS LEARNT, GREEN BUSINES PRACTICES, AND RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE 1ST & 2ND GSR CONFERENCES Key Lessons Learned 1. Sustainability demands radical change and requires innovation as well as ‘fighting minds.’

2. You cannot fake sustainability. Sustainability requires sincere not ostrich policies.

3. CSR should be applied not only in the private sector but in all sectors and be

mainstreamed within corporate strategies at the start of any operation.

4. Public Social Responsibility (PSR) is a precondition for CSR. 5. Be ambitious but cautious.

6. Go in stages and stay within your 5. Recognizing the role of the

own domain.

Private sector in boosting the 7. People First. The priority goals of green economy. Private sector

sustainability should be should be guided to generate

putting an end to profits and jobs but also to poverty. achieve environmental and social gains.

1. Developing green economy 6. Use energy as an entry point and green investment for sustainability. strategies and plans at the national, industry and 7. Environmental sustainability private-business levels. will have to be taken more The Government is central seriously by the private sector as overall policy maker as social pressure of civil and the catalyst to shape society groups and consumers national social, economic is increasing. To secure and environmental business with international directions. buyers, factories will need to increase their environmental 2. Establishing the true performance. valuation and accounting of ecosystems and natural 8. Being environmentally resources. compliant is a matter of reputation.

3. Leveling the playing field through appropriate and 9. Long term sustainable vision relevant legislation and means a living environment policy. for future generations.

And also ensuring that the 4. Implementing initiatives What next generation will strive focusing more explicitly it takes for a sustainable ‘made in on social aspects. This Bangladesh’ and will be includes targeting women, to Go proud to live and invest in the youth and poverty Green Bangladesh. reduction goals to ensure catalyst effects on

sustainability.

Recommendations: 1. The root causes need to be addressed: it is cheaper to mainstream CSR and take into account social and environmental challenges from the beginning of the supply chain, rather than thereafter.

2. Green technology reduces costs.

3. It is vital to make the right choices. Sustainable and responsible behavior will reward courageous companies, as they will gain competitive advantages.

4. Dhaka needs a Mayor and a City Council. The capital’s massive problems require immediate attention.

5. Green conscience is necessary. We must start today.

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11 MOTIVATION OF THE 3RD GSR CONFERENCE RMG Industry Bangladesh is the World’s second largest exporter of Ready Made Garments.

The apparel sector maintained its top position among the leading export sectors with 5.0 per cent growth and over US$22 billion earnings during January-November period in 2014. Around 4 million workers are employed in the sector The sector contributes 14% to national GDP.

Fire Safty Inferno at Tazreen Fashions took lives of more than 110 workers.

Many other factories are in high risk due to Lack of fire door as well as fire extinguishing equipment. The biggest challenge is to change the mindset: starting from factory owners to security guards, everyone believes collapsible gates with padlock are important for factories. This one provision in particular puts the workers life at risk. Besides, most of the factories do not have properly trained fire brigade employees.

Resolving all these issues can save lives as well as million dollar worth productions.

Technical Vocational Educational Training Panel Skilled manpower is essential for business profit and increasing shareholder’s value. So the moment unskilled manpower is transformed into skilled manpower in an institution, the institution is actually contributing to the society as whole and consequently performing its CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) activities. The goal is to ensure Bangladesh’s competitiveness in the global market and reduce poverty by improving the quality of vocational educational and training. Skilled manpower can help Bangladesh go up the value chain in both RMG and Leather sector.

Leather With 90 per cent value addition, the industry stands to flourish like the apparel sector.

Due to the appalling working conditions, and the environmental damage the tanneries are causing, tanneries in Hazaribagh will have to relocate to factories in Savar by April 2015.

Leather Industry produces 150 tons solid waste a day.

Management of Water, Waste Water, and Chemicals There is more than 10,000 tons of waste produced in Dhaka every day of which around 70% is organic degradable materials.

However, most of it is re-utilized in slums and suburban areas without a clear productive approach.

The private sector should better learn on the cost opportunity of waste.

There is an urgent need to raise awareness to promote mindset shift and change. Local technology to treat waste should be adapted to local needs for local context. Industrial recycling, safety and protection of dangerous waste should be enforced by law.

Social Compliance of Workers Social protection is looking at the total spectra of worker’s issues.

There is no visible social protection in place for the RMG workers in Bangladesh.

Focusing on social compliance as a business factor; it is an investment from a business perspective.

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Brief of the 3rd Global Social Responsibility Conference Putting the Responsible feet forward The focus of the discussions about 3rd Global Social Responsibility Conference was “Shareholder Value Vs Social Responsibility”.

Since the last decade, Bangladesh has experienced economic progress with a growth of approximately 6% due to increase in investments in various industrial sectors mainly attracted by low labour costs. Textile, agribusiness, construction and service sectors were sectors that were the most impacted by the development. Bangladesh is now facing enormous challenges in relation to water contamination, energy shortage, waste and social protection issues that if not timely and properly addressed, will undermine its growth path and result in causing potential harm towards society and the environment.

In order to respond to these challenges, BGCCI, in cooperation with its partners, aimed to foster a better understanding of social responsibility among the participants of the 3rd Global Social Responsibility Conference, highlighting the benefit of addressing environmental and social impacts with innovative and responsible solutions.

Executive Director of BGCCI and the Master of Ceremonies Daniel Seidl opened the first session. He explained the theme of the conference in his opening speech. He briefly reflected on why shareholder value is of utmost importance for the sustainability of a business. The inauguration speech was given

by H.E. Pierre Mayaudon, Ambassador, the Head of Delegation of the European Union to Bangladesh. “Bangladesh proudly stands on its own two feet. This is thanks to the hard work,” he said, “one could even say to the sacrifice, of millions of men and women.” “It is not the country that it was in the eighties- when international assistance contributed for more than 10 percent of the GDP. Now it is less than 2 percent,” he added. The ambassador cited ongoing development activities and said, “it is certainly not even the country it will be in 10 years from now if you judge from so many mega projects in the making”. The EU is the largest trade partner of Bangladesh where all goods enjoy duty-free market access.

BGCCI President Sakhawat Abu Khair in his inaugural speech thanked the cooperation partners and sporsors. He also thanked BGCCI

members for their relentless support in the form of advice and initiatives. The chamber celebrated 600 memberships in 2014, a milestone, he mentioned.

Dr. Ferdinand von Weyhe, Charge de affaires of German Embassy in Bangladesh in his speech discussed about the importance of social responsibility for various businesses.

He said,” I think one business man can talk to another business man in promoting social responsibility, because they speak in the same language.” According to him, doing socially and environmentally compliance activities like cooperating with workers, letting them form trade unions or consuming less energy are one thing; while promoting such news to consumers is another fact of the responsibility.

He urged Bangladesh to excel in case of both the responsibilities.

The first panel was RMG and Fire Safety Panel. Olaf Handloegten, Global Initiative on Disaster Risk Management, Head of Management Unit, Security, Reconstruction and Peace presented his keynote speech of the panel. Rob Wayss, Executive Director, Accord; Mesbah Rabin, Managing Director and Vice President of Alliance; Abdul Jabbar from, MD of DBL Group; Nazma Akter, Executive Director from Awaj Foundation; A.B.M. Khorshed Alam (CEO (Additional Secretary), NSDC Secretariat); Tuomo Poutiainen (Programme Manager, ReadyMade Garment Sector, ILO Dhaka) participated in the panel. Amy Yee, a journalist for The New York Times moderated the panel. The panel discussed about various problem of the sector regarding building inspection and fire safety and solutions to those problems. The representitives from Accord and Allaince informed the session about their ongoing inspection activities and improvments implemented by factories based on their recommendatrions. Also, the issue of trade unions was discussed. The panel welcomed the trend of rise of trade unions, which would eventually help establish workers’ right in the sector.

The Second Panel started with the Keynote presentation from Adnan Nafis, Head of Trade Promotion, CSR and Consultancy of BGCCI. The panelists were Md. Saiful Islam, MD Picard Bangladesh Ltd,; Md. Mominul Ahsan , CEO, Centre of Excellence for Leather Skill Bangladesh Ltd.); Sabur Ahmed , Asst. Professor

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& Chairman,Department of Leather Engineering, Institute of Leather; Engineering & Technology, University of Dhaka; Nabhash Chandra Mandal Executive Member & Additional Secretary), Registration & Incentives, Board of Investment; Tariqul Islam Khan, Chairman, Minikin ltd.; Iftekhar Haider Chowdhury , Industrial Relations Manager, HR Department, Bata Shoe Company Bangladesh Ltd. According to the speakers, Bangladesh will be able to churn $5 billion from exporting leather, leather goods and footwear in four years, riding on the back of product diversification and value addition.

The sector will create 200,000 jobs in the period.

“Everyone is talking about export diversification.

The leather sector will help Bangladesh diversify its exports,” said Saiful Islam, also the vice president of Leathergoods and Footwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association of Bangladesh. The leather sector has the potential to deliver rapid growth as it has a huge supply of hide, competitive cost base, huge workforce, tariff-free access, business shifting to Bangladesh from China, and a growing middle class, said Adnan Nafis, head of trade promotion at BGCCI. Following the Panel, Farhana von Mitzlaff, Founder, Meena e.V, an NGO for Rana Plaza survivors spoke before the audience. The conference is displaying 20 beautiful paintings done by the orphans of the Rana Plaza victims.

In the second session of the Global Social Responsibility Conference 2014, speakers discussed on social protection issue of workers, waste water management due to industrial chemical use and the importance of training up more workers for higher productivity. In panels, namely Social Protection of Workers, Environment and TVET, these discussions took place.

The Social Protection panel talked about Rana Plaza victims and their delayed compensation issues. Roy Ramesh Chandra from IndustriAll detailed about the present condition of the compensation process and urged that all European and American brands should come forward to ensure the compensation before the 2nd Anniversary of Rana Plaza disaster. The panelists also discussed about other social benefits workers should enjoy. The issue of child labor was also discussed. The other discussants were Mohammed Zahidullah (General Manager, Corporate DBL Group); Heng Sophannarith (Deputy Director of Health Insurance Division, National Social Security Fund of Cambodia, NSSF); Johanna Knoess (Head of Sector

Project “System of Social Protection” GIZ, Germany); Juergen Kretz (Country Coordinator Bangladesh, German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, BMZ ); Subajini Jayasekaran (Corporate Social Responsibility Manager, UNICEF).

Sarah H. Kraskey, Journalist for The New York Times & Al Jazeera moderated the session.

The Environment panel shed lights on profitable management of water in industries. Dr. Shanmuga Sundaram, Managing Director of TUV Rheinland detailed about various hazardous chemical used in the RMG industry and how workers' awareness can be increased regarding the harmful use of them.

David Hasanat from Viyellatex shared his success story of saving water by recycling ETP water for toiler flush and rainwater harvesting.Amy Yee moderated the panel.

The TVET panel was focused on the current condition of technical vocation educational training. The panelists discussed about what the government is offering right at the moment to the vastly unemployed youth population. They also shed lights on how private sector can come forward to extend help in this regard. Shafquat Haider, (Chairman, Industry Skills Council Information Technology -ICT) ;Paul Weijers (Team Leader, Skills and Employment Program Bangladesh); Bettina Schmidt, GIZ; Md. Mokhlesur Rahman, PhD (Senior Operations Officer, Education Global Practice, The World Bank); Dr. Abdul Haque Talukder (Chairman, (In Charge) Bangladesh Technical Education Board); Tanzer Siddique, Head of Membership, BGCCI were among the panelists.

Zafar Sobhan, Editor, Dhaka Tribune moderated the session.

Following the first and second Global Social Responsibility seminars held in 2010 and 2013 successively, BGCCI and its partners decided to put more emphasis on promoting the concept of sustainable growth and sharing practical business examples, which have endorsed environmental friendly innovation as the strategy for raising competitiveness and profits.

Moreover, the interactions with other key societal actors, such as the Government, civil society organizations, academia, media and international organizations, bring the benefit of looking and testing proved experiences in building a green economy for all.

H.E. Gerben de Jong, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Netherlands extended his felicitations to BGCCI and all its sponsors and participations for organizing such an important event.

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Program 11th December, 2014 Conference on “GLOBAL SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY- SHAREHOLDER VALUE VS SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY” 8:30 - 10:00

Registration: Radisson Blu Water Garden Hotel

Master of the Ceremony: Daniel Seidl, Executive Director, BGCCI

10:00 - 10:10

Inauguration Speeches Pierre Mayaudon Ambassador, The Head of Delegation, Delegation of the European Union to Bangladesh

10:10 - 10:20

Sakhawat Abu Khair President, BGCCI

10:20 - 10:30

Tofail Ahmed Honorable Minister, Ministry of Commerce, Bangladesh

Md. Mujibul Haque Chunnu Honorable State Minister, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Bangladesh

10:30 - 10:40

Dr. Ferdinand von Weyhe Chargé d’Affaires, German Embassy

10:40 - 11:00

Networking Coffee/Tea Break

11:00 - 12:00

RMG & Fire Safety Panel

Introductory Notes: Olaf Handloegten Global Initiative on Disaster Risk Management Head of Management Unit, Security, Reconstruction and Peace

Moderator: Amy Yee Independent Journalist, Contributor for The New York Times

Panelists:

Rob Wayss (Executive Director, The Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety);

Mesbah Rabin (Managing Director, Alliance for Bangladesh Workers Safety);

A.B.M. Khorshed Alam (CEO (Additional Secretary), NSDC Secretariat);

M.A. Jabbar (Managing Director, DBL);

Nazma Akter (Trade Union Representative);

Tuomo Poutiainen (Programme Manager, Ready-Made Garment Sector,

ILO Dhaka) 12:00 - 13:00 Leather Industry Panel

Introductory Notes: Adnan Nafis Head of Trade Promotion, CSR & Consultancy, BGCCI Moderator:

Dr. Salehuddin, Managing Editor, The Daily Star Panelists:

Md. Saiful Islam (Managing Director, Picard Bangladesh);

Md. Mominul Ahsan (CEO, Centre of Excellence for Leather Skill Bangladesh Ltd.);

Sabur Ahmed (Asst. Professor & Chairman, Department of Leather Engineering, Institute of Leather

Engineering & Technology, University of Dhaka);

Nabhash Chandra Mandal (Executive Member (Additional Secretary), Registration & Incentives, Board of Investment);

Tariqul Islam Khan (Chairman, Minikin ltd.);

Iftekhar Haider Chowdhury (Industrial Relations Manager, HR Department, Bata Shoe Company (Bangladesh) Ltd. ) 13:00 - 13:10 PAINTING FOR JOY

Exhibition of paintings by victims of the Rana Plaza tragedy

Farhana von Mitzlaff (Founder, Meena e.V.);

Andreana de Jong (Communication Manager, Meena e.V.) 13:10 - 14:00 Lunch 14:00 - 15:00 Social Protection of Workers – Aiming Further to Enhance Productivity and Reputation Panel

Introductory Notes: Dr. Binayak Sen Research Director of the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS)

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Sarah H. Kraskey

Journalist for The New York Times & Al Jazeera Panelists:

Juergen Kretz (Country Coordinator Bangladesh, German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) );

Johanna Knoess (Head of Sector Project “System of Social Protection” GIZ, Germany);

Heng Sophannarith (Deputy Director of Health Insurance Division, National Social Security Fund of Cambodia (NSSF) );

Roy Ramesh (Chairman of IndustriALL Bangladesh);

Mohammed Zahidullah

(General Manager, Corporate DBL Group);

Subajini Jayasekaran (Corporate Social Responsibility Manager, UNICEF) 15:00 - 16:00

“Sustainable and Profitable Management of Water, Chemicals and Wastewater: What this means for consumers, the environment and your business” Panel

Introductory Notes: Kazy Mohammad Iqbal Hossain Senior Environmental Chemist, Asian Subcontinent-Dhaka Based Sustainable Business Development, C&A Buying

Nicolas Depoorter (Project Coordinator, Friendship Bangladesh); Abdus Sabur Chowdhury (Senior Manager Communication & Volunteer Management, Friendship Bangladesh)

16:40 - 17:40

Technical Vocational Training Panel

Introductory Notes: Magnus Schmid Coordinator, PSES, GIZ

Educational

Moderator:

Zafar Sobhan

Editor, Dhaka Tribune Panelists:

Md. Mokhlesur Rahman, PhD (Senior Operations Officer, Education Global Practice, The World Bank);

Bettina Schmidt, GIZ

Dr. Abdul Haque Talukder (Chairman, (In Charge) Bangladesh Technical Education Board);

Mr. Paul Weijers (Team Leader, Skills and Employment Program Bangladesh);

Tanzer Siddique (Head of Membership, BGCCI)

Shafquat Haider (Chairman, Industry Skills Council Information Technology (ICT)) 17:40 - 17:50

Tarango: Livelihood Development of Women from Informal Sector

Moderator:

Amy Yee

Independent Journalist, Contributor for The New York Times

Kohinoor Yesmin (CEO & SME Specialist, Tarango-A Women Development Organization)

17:50 - 18:10

Final remark and Conclusion

Panelists:

Md. Shahjahan (Director General (Acting), Department of Environment);

Syed Mohammad Ismail (Country Head, Bangladesh & Sri Lanka Huntsman Singapore Pte. Ltd.);

Tanuja Bhattacharjee (Senior Environmental Advisor, Promotion of Social and Environmental Standards in the Industry (PSES) GIZ);

Prof. Manzurul Hassan (North South University);

Dr. Shanmuga Sundaram (Managing Director, TÜV Rheinland ®);

David Hasnat (Chairman, Viyellatex Group) 16:00 - 16:30 Networking Coffee/Tea Break

H.E. Gerben Sjoerd de Jong Ambassador of the Kingdom Netherlands

Daniel Seidl Executive Director, BGCCI

18:15 - 20:00

Dinner at the Radisson Water Garden Hotel, Dhaka

16:30 - 16:40

Colors from Chars: From Vocational Training Centre to Women Empowerment

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GSR Media Coverage

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11 December 2014 | Dhaka | Bangladesh

Lessons Learnt from the Conference: The opening speech of the 2015 GSR conference was conducted by the EU ambassador, H.E. Pierre Mayaudon. He emphasized on the fact that there is a greater realization among corporate bodies to accumulate economic support for sustainable development issues including environment, addressing poverty, women’s empowerment. This will serve society’s interest as well as help private businesses make more profits.

“Bangladesh is willfully moving from aid to trade. We all know it but the rest of the world is maybe less aware of this reality. Bangladesh is no longer a country it was at the time of A Concert for Bangladesh in 1971 with George Harrison and Ravi Shankar. It is not the country it was in the eighties when international assistance was still contributing to more than 10% of the GDP. Now it is less than 2%,” H.E. informed the audience.

The ambassador cited ongoing development activities and said “it is certainly not even the country it will be in 10 years from now if you judge from so many mega projects in the making”.

“The response towards social responsibility from the private sectors of Europe and Bangladesh has been very encouraging. Germany’s strength is in vocational training and for the next 7 years, I would like to highlight the priority of the EU’s investment in skills development, in order to achieve even better growth,” he added.

“Bangladesh is certainly not even the country it will be in 10 years from now if you judge from so many mega projects in the making”.

EU ambassador, H.E. Pierre Mayaudon

In his speech, Dr. Ferdinand von Weyhe, Chargé d’Affaires, German Embassy mentioned about two types of invetments.

Firstly, ivestment in social responsibility for workers. Focusing on social responsibility as a business factor, it is an investment from a business perspective. He mentioned about examples of investments in social responsibility: Setting up a kinder – garden; providing food free of charge; workers participation in decision making.

According to him, the benefits of the investment are shown in worker’s flow. The flow can be reduced to 4%, 5% to a sustained work force, which mean less investment in training.

Second point is the investment in environment. Investment into energy efficiency; daylight use, new boilers, it will be a good investment. “One business man can talk to anther business man in promoting social responsibility,” he said.

“Assure our consumers that we are improving the standards, we are cooperating with our workers, we are accepting trade unions, we are reducing waste waters, and we are consuming less energy. We should promote this, and do this,” he added.

According to him, he panels chosen in light of symbolic summits in the RMG and Leather Industry that with the concentration and investments in these sectors the end result will be growth in the industry. Proper business practices in fire safety, social protection, water management, and technical vocational training, can enhance the way we do business in Bangladesh. “Fostering a mutual understanding on the expectations and responsibilities of stakeholders in various policies in the sectors will be the driving force behind the panels,” he opined.

“Assure our consumers that we are improving the standards, we are cooperating with our workers, we are accepting trade unions, we are reducing waste waters, and we are consuming less energy.

We should promote this, and do this.”

Dr. Ferdinand von Weyhe, Chargé d’Affaires German Embassy mentioned

19 BGCCI President Sakhawat Abu Khair identified the 3rd GSR Conference as a glorious moment since BGCCI achieved two milestones in 2014. First one is the successful continuation of the conference and the second one is the 600th Member of the Chamber, which once again cements BGCCI’s position as the biggest and most active bilateral chamber. In his speech, he explained why businesses should embrace the idea of going green. He urged that to be a part of the paradigm shift in the RMG and leather sector, businessmen must change their mindset and adopt all means which will set Bangladesh on the next trajectory of profound growth.

“BGCCI achieved two milestones in 2014. First one is the successful continuation of the conference and the 2nd one is the 600th Member of the Chamber.”

BGCCI President Sakhawat Abu Khair

RMG & Fire Safety Panel Background: The RMG Industry in Bangladesh has achieved many a milestone over the years. In the 90s, the industry focused on the elimination of child labor; this was followed by social compliance and audits.

Now the focus is on building, fire and electrical safety and the establishment of trade unions. With hundreds of inspections being done by the Bangladesh Accord on Fire & Building Safety and the Alliance for Bangladesh Workers Safety, Bangladesh’s RMG sector is going through a paradigm shift. Ever since the tragic accident of Rana Plaza happened, Labor laws are being amended and workers are forming Trade Unions more than ever before. All these are positive signs. However, there are many challenges that still lie ahead.

A new chapter of transparency, trust and problem-solving

needs to be opened. Workers, unions, brands and factory owners should engage in dialogues for communicating positively. Clear goals, ownership and financial commitments need to be defined and agreed upon in order to be successful.

It might be easy to do the inspections; but it will not be easy to communicate the results to the workers, and make sure the remediation efforts by the factory owners are done properly. The biggest task will be to ensure the safety in the factory and maintaining the standards through top and middle management over time.

RMG & Fire Safety session of GSR Conference would like to shed light on those challenges, possibilities and ways to move forward.

From the left to right: Daniel Seidl, Executive Director, BGCCI; Dr. Shanmuga Sundaram, Managing Director, TUV Rheinland; Dr. Ferdinand von Weyhe, Charge’d Affaires, Ambassdor, German Embassy; H.E. Gerben de Jong, Ambassador, Netherlands Embassy; Sakhawat Abu Khair, BGCCI, President; A.B.M. Khorshed Alam, CEO & Additional Secretary, NSDC Secretariat; Nazma Akter, Executive Director, Awaj Foundation; Amy Yee, independent Journalist & Contributor for The New York Times; Tuomo Poutiainen, Programme Manager, Ready-Made Garment Sector, ILO Dhaka;Rob Wayss, Executive Director, The Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety; Magnus Schmid, Coordinator, PSES, GIZ Bangladesh; Mesbah Rabin, Managing Director, Alliance for Bangladesh Workers Safety; Abdul Jabbar, MD, DBL group; Olaf Handloegten, Global Initiative on Disaster Risk Management Head of Management Unit, Security, Reconstruction and Peace

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“We need more companies who will partner in piloting this so called ‘Mini Fire brigade’ approach.”

Introductory Speech: The keynote speech was delivered by Olaf Handloegten, Global Initiative on Disaster management, Head of Management Unit, Security, reconstruction and Peace.

Mr. Handloegten expressed that to successfully prevent disasters from happening again, we must work together and harder. There needs to be strong publicprivate partnerships, capacity building, and we obviously need technological innovations, as well as solutions. The Global Initiative on Disaster Management’s aim is to develop global partnerships and to increase or strengthen disaster and climate resilience across all regions. It also aims to

Olaf Handloegten, Global Initiative on Disaster management

bring together German and regional exports from the public and private sector, civil sectors, and the academic and research community to facilitate mutual learning across national boundaries as well as to develop pivot solutions in the area of disaster management. At the same time, the global initiative also aims to clutch the drawing competence in the field of disaster management and help match the demand with specialized services and technologies made in and with Germany more effectively.

Three intervention areas, 1.

Early warning systems 2.

Critical infrastructures and sensitive economic cycles 3.

Disasters prone preparedness and civil protection Now to address the fire safety issue, which is a pressing urgency owing to recent factory incidents; experts from the German city of Bonn’s Fire Department are working in the global initiative, and have developed a decentralized fire safety strategy. It’s a fire safety rapid response team, it means that the first 10 minutes after a disaster occurs or fire breaks is crucial and needs immediate response before the main Fire Brigade arrives, this could help ensure worker’s fire safety in the future all across Bangladesh.

Amy Yee, Independent Journalist and contributor for the New York Times moderated the panel.

Panelists:

Rob Wayss, Executive Director, The Accord on Fire & Building Safety

The session started with Rob Wayss being asked about the status of inspections done by Alliance in RMG factories.

According to him, there has been a lot of progress in last 18 months but we still have a long way to go. In case of progresses, fire alarms, automatic alarms are being installed in inspected buildings. Wireless systems are being upgraded and extended. Structurally, columns are being reinforced and load management system is being installed. Due to all these inspections, the engineers from the Fire Safety, CSR, Electrical Maintenance departments, Trade Unions now are more aware about the fire safety issues of a factory. “The most important development is the change of the mindset of the business people. They now understand that making their business safe is a part of good business model,” he said.

Rob Wayss pointed out some of the challenges. Fire doors, are badly needed for every single factory, where as collapsible gates, which need to go from the factories. “There are examples where uncertified fire doors are being installed and thus money spent is totally wasted.”

The next challenge according to him is the financing the remediation. It is tough to ensure fair negotiation between brands and factory owners and the latter should understand and master the art of negotiation for further benefit.

21 He suggested that factory owners could easily avoid catastrophic accidents by ensuring some easy fixes, like keeping wires in electrical boxes. Another fix is is developing a load management system and adhering to it. Maintenance and storage is also very important. Another challenge is training the people working in fire brigades.

Mesbah Rabin from Alliance for Bangladesh Workers Safety mentioned that approximately 52% of factories of RMG sector are beyond Accord and Alliance, where as all stakeholders’ focus is on the aforementioned bodies about Fire and electrical safety concerns in factories inspected by them. This big number of factories are being handled by the technical support by ILO and funding from donor countries.

Progress of inspection is very slow: only 620 factories have been inspected so far. He expressed his concerns over handling the remediation cases of these non-Accord-Alliance factories.

Change in Mindset is still a big challenge. Just like Rob Wayss, Mesbah Rabin also mentioned about the confusion persisting about fire doors. According to him, a report says some 19000 fire doors have been imported of which only 11000 had credible certificates. Similar incidents happened in case of fire extinguishing materials. Besides, he raised a big question about the 700-800 tailoring houses or so-called sub-contracting factories which are not even under the radar of BGMEA or BKMEA.

A fraction of the speakers at the RMG & Fire Safety Panel

He also pointed out about rules and regulations regarding sprinkler system installation. As per the Bangladesh National Building Code, every 1000 square feet and above production floor must have sprinkler system; ground floor must have sprinkler system; basement should have 200000-gallon water reservoir. However, due to almost similar standard measures, both Accord and Alliance have been criticized by the factory owners. He expressed his satisfaction about the progress of technical meeting with the government in this regard and hoped the issues would be resolved soon.

Md. Abdul Jabbar, Managing Director of DBL group took part in the discussion representing BGMEA. He informed the session that buyers have zero tolerance on sub-contracting.

They have been strict about these sub-con factories and as a result, many medium and small factories are being shut down. I must tell that the change in mindset is helping the whole sector to observe a paradigm shift. We would like to thanks Accord and Alliance for this tremendous success.

“Rana Plaza has been a lesson for us and has brought many departments of government and private sector under one umbrella to ensure factory safety. Overnight all factories cannot become compliant but I am optimistic that soon we will be able to achieve that status.”

Tuomo Poutiainen, Program Manager of Ready Made Garment sector, ILO Dhaka talked about a number of health and safety related issues. According to him, at ILO, what matters to them is the totality of the improvement process to create better and safe working environment. The National Initiative is an important element as a number of 600 factories are being examined under this. The government want to accelerate the process to ensure all factories that are exporting have been inspected. He said, “ this is not merely about those assessments done; rather this is about building capacity of the government and the private sector to ensure that what needs to be fixed in the system is fixed on time.”

The government should have the medium and long term capacity to oversight the industry, that is also important to us. About creating safety and health culture, he mentioned that that has to be coming from inside of the factory: the workers and management should understand and practice it among themselves. This why the Safety and Health Committees are important to reflect the understanding of

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Tuomo Poutiainen, Program Manager of Ready Made Garment sector, ILO Dhaka

the management and true voice of the workers. “Another important things is we need to look beyond the Accord and Alliance; we need to already start inventing for tomorrow to have the right engineering core in place; educate young professionals about the safety and compliance issues.

Nazma Akter from Awaj Foundation described how they are constantly working with the RMG workers and educate them about their rights and responsibilities, leadership and negotiation techniques. At the same time they are making them aware about different kind of safety measurements.

“Now that we can form trade unions, the workers are feeling empowered more than ever before, specially the female workers are emerging in leadership roles; since last year till today, with the help of our organization, workers can form 26 new trade unions.” After the Rana Plaza collapse, nowadays, if workers find even a small crack in factory walls, they become frightened. Through her organization, with the help of Accord and IndustriAll, she updates workers about the building safety issues. “ I would like to make a pledge to those European companies who are yet to sign the Accord; because being a part of it will not only help the RMG industry in Bangladesh, those singing companies too will be profitable in the long run.” She believes, many a time international brands, which are strict about maintaining quality, are not ready to pay higher price for products, which leads to the formation of sub-con factories. If they change their mindset, that will help putting an end in the trend of subcontracting.

A.B.M. Khorshed Alam from National Skill Development Council mentioned about the skill development issues for the workers his organization is dealing with at that moment.

According to him, to ensure fire safety, some chapters can be included in the curriculum for skill development, which will help them face the challenge in time of need. Since many factories are relocating outside Dhaka, he suggested to design buildings in a way that go-down(storage facility) of the factory are away from the main building and generators or boilers are also put outside the building. In addition, owners should organize exercise sessions for workers on fire and electrical safety measures.

Recommendations: • Mindset has to be changed more quickly and towards positive outcomes of the factory inspections.

• Getting the easy fixes done on time so that those cannot cause any big accidents.

• Factory owners need to gather more information about firedoor and fire extinguishing ingredients.

• Factories must ensure dedicated fire brigade team with proper training, dress and tools.

• Dedicated generator should be installed in factories to power the fire machineries if there is any fire incident.

• Workers entering into the go-down should be checked if they are carrying any sort of ignition material.

• Subcontracting factories should be brought under radar of authoritative bodies immediately to avoid any future accidents.

• International brands and retailers should come forward to cooperate the factory owners in remediation cases.

23 Leather Industry Panel Background The leather export sector passed $1Bn in the last year for the first time after a year of remarkable growth. This makes it Bangladesh’s #2 export sector. It is well placed to lead the export diversification trend that Bangladesh desperately needs. The domestic market is also rapidly growing as Bangladeshis’ wealth increases. The domestic market could be worth about $350m.Industry insiders aspire to reach $5Billion exports. However, Bangladesh’s leather exports account for a mere 0.005 percent of the global leather and leather goods market worth around $230 billion, according to industry insiders.

The leather sector in Bangladesh is made up of three sectors: hides (finished & semi-finished leather), footwear and leather goods (bags, accessories). The industry produces around 3.4 million bovine hides, and 36 million goat hides per year. The vast majority are processed by small firms, with perhaps just 20 tanneries capable of producing more than 2 million sq. feet per year.

But the great majority of the industry is represented by small and medium firms that have little interest in compliance issue beyond the most basic steps to keep a peaceful workforce. The Human Rights Watch report on Bangladesh’s “Toxic Tanneries” paints a bleak picture of the social and environmental compliance standards in the tanning sector especially. It is fair to say that the small and medium manufacturing firms are also in general weak in social compliance. The sector also struggles to access markets

due to its fragmented nature. Stakeholders are unanimous that the skill-levels and technology used in the sector are in general poor. Skill-levels in the downstream tanning sector also have a damaging impact on the sectors ability to extract the maximum value. Access to finance, especially among the small and medium firms, inhibits progress.

The tanning sector is legally required to relocate into a purpose built industrial park in Savar served by a shared Central Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP). This process is under construction, It can certainly be a step—change in the compliance and productivity landscape of the leather sector.

Should the Savar relocation proceed effectively the impact could be extremely positive. Not only will it make the sector more viable for international buyers, it will help Bangladesh extract far more value from its abundant raw materials.

Leather is now established as key industry for Bangladesh and is here to stay. Its growth prospects and almost certain entrance of new factories and expanding worker-base mean that leather will only become a more significant factor in Bangladesh’s compliance landscape over the next five years.

Failure to address key problems will lead to exacerbated and entrenched problems in the future. If the stakeholders can establish a foothold in the sector now, influence the direction of the industry, and build capacity for it to address its key issues, the social and environmental returns could be excellent.

From left to right: Adnan Nafis, Head of Trade Promotion, CSR and Consultancy, BGCCI; Nabhash Chandra Mandal (Executive Member & Additional Secretary, Registration & Incentives, Board of Investment; Md. Saiful Islam, Managing Director, Picard Bangladesh Ltd. ; Dr. Salehuddin, Managing Editor, The Daily Star; Md. Mominul Ahsan CEO, Centre of Excellence for Leather Skill Bangladesh Ltd.; Tariqul Islam Khan Chairman, Minikin ltd.; Sabur Ahmed, Asst. Professor & Chairman, Department of Leather Engineering, Institute of Leather Engineering & Technology, University of Dhaka; Iftekhar Haider Chowdhury, Industrial Relations Manager, HR Department, Bata Shoe Company (Bangladesh) Ltd

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“Of course, export from leather sector can easily reach $5 Billion but that should not happen at the expense of our environment.”

Introductory Speech: Adnan Nafis, Head of Trade Promotion of BGCCI presented the keynote of the panel. According to his presentation, Leather is Bangladesh’s newest $1 Billion export sector growing rapidly and has the potential to deliver rapid growth as it has a huge supply of hide, competitive cost base, huge workforce, tarifffree access, business shifting to Bangladesh from China, and a growing middle class. The export can easily reach $5 Billion. Vietnam did it, their leather export increased from $2.7bn to $7.3Bn between 2009 –2013 and they did it without domestic leather supply. Leather provides direct & indirect employment for more than 8,50,000 workers. The leather sector in Bangladesh is made up of three sectors: hides (finished & semi-finished leather), footwear and leather goods (bags, accessories). A number of big companies are dominating the export market with excellent compliance and safety reputation Medium and small firms are generally serving the domestic market. Bangladesh exports leather products mainly to Italy, New Zealand, Poland, the UK, Belgium, France, Germany, the US, Canada and Spain. In addition, Japan, India, Nepal, Australia and some other countries are emerging as potential importers of Bangladeshi leather goods.

The export growth of Leather shoes and goods is increasing rapidly but export of hide is declining due to compliance issue.

Hazaribag, the tannery hub of Bangladesh is considered to be the one of the ten most polluted places on Earth by Time Magazine. Most of the tannery dumps the untreated chemicals and residues in the open water source and river Buriganga. The tannery industry is undermining this promising sector as it has attracted international condemnation for environment pollution and endangering the residents and workers. Extreme social and environmental compliance failures, gender discrimination, child labor, violation of labor safety and lack of waste management are the high light of the tannery industry of Bangladesh.

Because of the tannery sector other segments of the leather sector like leather shoe and goods manufacturers are facing image crisis and hurdles to increase export. To avoid compliance issues, Bangladesh also imports significant amount leather: $74m (2013-14) to meet the demand of export need. So improving the capacity of local manufacturers can also bring an import-substitution benefit for Bangladesh. A handful of large manufacturers dominate the export market. The Government of Bangladesh has taken steps to promote the leather sector and allocated land and compensation fund for the tannery relocation to Savar but now the Government has to be strict and enforce existing laws to punish the violators. Investing and implementing environmental now will save Bangladesh from a greater future expense. We have to learn from China. In 2010, the environmental damage in china was worth $230 billion and 3.5% of GDP was spent to clean up environment. China is implementing strict enforcement of environment laws; like in 2014- six Chinese companies have been fined $26 million for discharging tens of thousands of tonnes of waste chemicals into rivers. Time has come to be strict because we cannot just accept environmental damage for the sake of short-term growth. At the end of the day, we are accountable to our future generation for a safe world.

Salehuddin Ahmed, managing editor of The Daily Star, moderated the session.

Panelists:

“Everyone is talking about export diversification. The leather sector will help Bangladesh diversify its exports,” said said Md Saiful Islam, Managing Director of Picard Bangladesh and the Vice President of Leathergoods and Footwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association of Bangladesh.

He added, “The high cost of doing business in China has created a business opportunity for Bangladesh due to its competitive workforce. Bangladesh saw political unrest last year, but not labour unrest. It is a positive sign for Bangladesh.

The sector will create 200,000 jobs in the period.

“The sector has immense potential to tap more export orders, The sector registered 28 percent growth last year.

The duty free import of raw materials and tax rebate facility for the sector will encourage foreign companies to form joint ventures with local companies”, said Nabhash Chandra Mandal, executive member of Board of Investment.

Regarding the relocation of tanneries, which has remain a unresolved burning question, Tarikul Islam Khan updated session. “The tannery relocation process is slow. We should complete it soon. About 80 tanneries have started relocating from the toxic tannery hub of Hazaribagh to Savar. The

25 industries ministry has already allocated plots on the 200acre leather estate in Savar to 155 tannery owners through Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation, a wing of the industries ministry that is implementing the project. The central bank also declared an incentive package for tanners to help them move the hazardous factories to a designated industrial park,” said the former representative of the tanners’ association Sharing some critical information about business, Iftekhar Haider Chowdhury, industrial relations manager at the company said, “Bata Shoes is facing some problems, such as high value-added taxes and counterfeit shoes from Myanmar and Thailand. We have 300 outlets across the country but counterfeit shoes are sold on the roads or others showrooms, which affect our business.

The company pays VAT twice on its finished products. It pays VAT when the product comes out of the factory and again when it is sold. The problem should be addressed.”

“We should add value to our finished products to get more export orders. The collection and preservation process of rawhide should be developed to produce quality finished products, said Sabur Ahmed, chairman of the leather engineering department at Dhaka University.

Recommendations: 1. More focus on the skill development has to be given. So that more mid and high end products can be produced beside basic products.

2. International participation in different exhibitions has to be done to promote Bangladesh with Government support.

3. Leather sector should be given priority like the RMG sector.

4. Existing environmental law have to be strictly enforced.

New and strict environment laws have to be passed and strictly enforced.

5. Branding of Bangladesh and the leather sector has to be done to promote this sector.

6. Revise the Government incentive initiative to encourage more value addition of products.

7. Create awareness of Environment protection and international image of Bangladesh.

8. Leather goods and shoes are performing well and have no compliance or environment problem so Government should patronize this sub sector more.

A fraction of the Leather Industry Panel discssing about the prospects and problems of the sector

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Social Protection of Workers-Aiming Further to Enhance Productivity and Reputation Panel Background: Despite making tangible progress in improving work place safety, especially since the collapse of the Rana Plaza building, a majority of RMG workers still suffer from a lack of social protection mechanisms. This results in an increased vulnerability to financial hardship and poverty from life cycle risks such as work accidents, unemployment, ill health and old age.

Lessons learned from many countries show that social protection serve as an investment in human capital. Social protection measures have been proven to reduce poverty, promote economic growth, increase productivity and strengthen social cohesion. The government of Bangladesh has recognized the need for coherent social protection systems to be in place and has expressed its commitment

towards reform. An example of this is the National Social Protection Strategy and the Healthcare Financing Strategy 2012 – 2032. The challenge remains on implementation of these strategies and the continuous adaptation of policies to further strengthen the social protection system of Bangladesh.

This session aims to bring together representatives from Bangladeshi garment factories, civil society, the government as well as international development partners to discuss the situation and explore further methods of development. The panel will be complemented by inputs from Cambodia where the recent introduction of social protection and accident insurance policies have increased employee wellbeing as well as sector productivity.

From left to right: Mohammed Zahidullah (General Manager, Corporate DBL Group); Roy Ramesh (Chairman of IndustriALL Bangladesh); Sarah H. Kraskey, Journalist for The New York Times & Al Jazeera; Heng Sophannarith (Deputy Director of Health Insurance Division, National Social Security Fund of Cambodia (NSSF) ); Johanna Knoess (Head of Sector Project “System of Social Protection” GIZ, Germany); Juergen Kretz (Country Coordinator Bangladesh, German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) ); Subajini Jayasekaran (Corporate Social Responsibility Manager, UNICEF)

27 “Poverty has fallen by about 50% in rural areas due to employment opportunities in the sector and that 300-500 BDT enough to sponsor a holistic health protection packet for a single worker.”

Introductory Speech: Dr. Binayak Sen from BIDS presented the key note speech.

Dr. Sen started the panel discussion with findings from his recent study. The study focused on answering three main questions.

1. Recognizing sustained progressive change in economic lives 2. Issues related to non-wage working conditions 3. Addressing the question of ‘good-enough’ compliance According to his study, appreciable progress in reduction of child labor has been found. He also shares some more interesting information, like: 42% of employees of the RMG sector are married. Thus there seems to be a balanced distribution than thought and employment in the RMG sector and civil society movements have contributed to reduction in illiteracy amongst the RMG workers.

Mentioning the study results, he said that poverty has fallen by about 50% in rural areas due to employment opportunities in the sector and that 300-500 BDT enough to sponsor a holistic health protection packet for a single worker.

Sarah Krasley, Journalist for New York Times & Al Jazeera moderated the session.

Panelists: for decades. When asked about ROI for companies that implement social welfare measures, he gave example of DBL’s fair price shop, where employees can buy groceries and other consumer items at wholesale prices. The shop, together with other welfare activities (day care, recreation centre), have brought down worker turnover to 2%, as compared to an industry average of 10%. DBL sees this as their ROI. “I believe health, accident and pension are important domains of social protection. Awareness building amongst workers is important in order to empower them,” he said.

When asked about the vulnerabilities of the RMG sector, Roy Ramesh from IndustriALL focused on the fault lines of social protection measures in BD and the industry: European systems are not transferable and systems should be tailored to be context specific. According to him, 2% GDP on social spending shows that little importance is given to such measures form the Government. The current accident insurance stipulation comes with a caveat that in the event of a factory accident, coverage is only for 20 workers, up to an amount of 100,000 BDT per worker (1000EUR). He suggested - Pension schemes are another important area to address, since nobody discusses the faith of such workers post retirement. Trend indicates that beyond 45 years of age, the likelihood of a worker continuing in the RMG sector is extremely low.

Mohammed Zaidullah, General Manager, Corporate DBL Group shared his experience of working in the sector

Subajini Jayasekaran, the CSR Manager, UNICEF shed lights on UNICEF’s role in Social Protection. She informed the session that though worker social protection is important, decisions regarding workers directly and indirectly affect 40% of the world’s population (i.e. dependant children) - Businesses need to ensure respect of human rights

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establish social protection schemes in Cambodia, led to work injury coverage as the first level of action. He also explained the evolution of the legal framework that tries to encompass the worker concerns within its framework. There was also a mention of a desire to extend this coverage to the whole population of Cambodia

Johanna Knoess, Head of sector project ‘System of Social Protection’ GIZ, Germany was asked about which are the key criteria for reform in social protection. According to her, to promote Social Protection systems, countries require 1. Political will 2. Key actors in relevant institutions to push agenda forward 3. Shared responsibility amongst all stakeholders 4. A systems view is important to incorporate from the very beginning 5. Local experiences to plan and move forward 6. Evidence based policy, for which adequate resources are required Ms. Knoess also mentioned about her experience in Indonesia.

She remarked that implementing social protection measures is a lengthy process (took 8 years in Indonesia), but the key is to be resilient and maintain a gradualist/incremental approach.

Heng Sophannarith, who has been working in the National Social Security Fund of Cambodia (NSSF) talked about work injury protection as an important aspect of the NSSF structure. He explained how political will, and a need to

Juergen Kretz, the Country Co-ordinator, BMZ detailed about BMZ’s initiatives in the garment sector. According to him, it is the most relevant sector in the PSES program at GIZ BD (Promoting Social and Environmental Standards).

He informed the session that about 800 factories receive training and consulting with a current focus on Occupational Health & Safety Standards.

About the role of social protection in strengthening productivity & safety of workers, he explained how it helps both employer and employee. “GIZ will have a new mandate, focusing on employee accident insurance keeping in mind the responsibility of the German govt. to its partner country - The above has taken even more importance due to events which followed from the Rana Plaza collapse. It showed that there is no avenue for treatment or rehabilitation for workers involved in industrial disasters. The GIZ and DGUV have signed an MoU, with a mandate to extend Social Accident Insurance to all factories and workers of the RMG sector,” he said.

Recommendations: 1. Industrywide workers’ trust can be formed to work with issues pertaining to social protection.

2. Need to engage society, NGO and the Government if change is desired 3. Need to be context specific in protection measures. Urban children often have worse health indicators than their rural counterparts owing to unplanned development, pollution and sub standard living conditions 4. Proper zoning laws (dedicated industrial areas) is important to ensure safety and health.

5. Proper legal framework should be formed and workers’ injury related issues should be included within the framework.

“Sustainable and Profitable Management of Waste, Chemicals and Wastewater: What this means for consumers, the environment and your business” Panel Background With an increasing number of international retailers requiring manufacturers to eliminate hazardous chemicals from the supply chain, manufacturers are faced with the dilemma of increasing production costs, affecting the profitability of the manufacturers. However, with the right know how, manufacturers can fine-tune their dyeing and washing processes to minimize the use of water and chemicals.

This results in lower energy consumption and lowers costs

associated with the treatment of effluents. This means that the added costs of replacing hazardous chemicals can be overcome by the cost savings achieved by lowering the consumption of water, chemicals and energy. The elimination of hazardous chemicals protects the end consumer and the environment alike, and there is a strong case to be made in favor of the opportunities to improve profitability.

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From left to right: Daniel Seidl, Executive Director of BGCCI; Syed Mohammad Ismail (Country Head, Bangladesh & Sri Lanka Huntsman Singapore Pte. Ltd.); Prof. Manzurul Hassan (North South University); Dr. Shanmuga Sundaram (Managing Director, TÜV Rheinland ®); Amy Yee, Independent Journalist; Md. Shahjahan (Director General (Acting), Department of Environment); David Hasnat (Chairman, Viyellatex Group); Kazy Mohammad Iqbal Hossain, Senior Environmental Chemist, Asian Subcontinent-Dhaka Based Sustainable Business Development, C&A Buying; Tanuja Bhattacharjee (Senior Environmental Advisor, Promotion of Social and Environmental Standards in the Industry (PSES) GIZ)t

“Industry must ensure zero discharge of hazardous chemical substances.”

Introductory Speech: Keynote Presentation was given by Kazy Mohammad Iqbal Hossain, Senior Environmental Chemist, AsianSubcontinent-Dhaka Based Sustainable Business Development, C&A Buying.

In the beginning, he gave a brief introduction about his company C&A, which is a global apparel chain with presence with more than 1850 stores in 22 countries. The company’s core environmental policy contains six basic points. These can be summarized as :are: 1) having all kinds of most updated environmental license and permits 2) Waste reduction at source 3) proper handling and storage of chemical and other hazardous materials 4) proper treatment of day to day production of waste water 5) supply chain and partners to adopt measure for zero-discharge of all hazardous chemicals 6) all supply chain partners strictly follow the rules about restricted chemicals. Regarding water and energy consumption in factories, C&A joined hands with International Finance Corporation (IFC) in a program called ‘Partnership for Cleaner Textile’ which emphasis on sustainable processing of fabrics with proper use of water and energy. He later detailed about the concept of zero discharge of hazardous chemical (ZDHC). The ZDHC group was formed in 2011 and till today it provides tools and trainings to supply chains for better chemical management in factories.

Besides, it provides chemical hazard assessment and advice about what should be replaced; supply chain training, etc. He mentioned about C&A’s strategy to ensure Zero discharge of hazardous chemical with its suppliers.

Panelists: Amy Yee, independent journalist and contributor for the New York Times moderated the session. She informed the session that Bangladesh’s RMG industry uses water which could fill an Olympic size swimming pool; from this it is easily understandable that the waste water it produces is also huge in amount; moreover it is pitch black in color and extremely smelly. For this, it is easily understandable that the importance of managing this waste water is crucial, before the problem becomes uncontrollable.

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company management. Regarding what kind of incentives would inspire entrepreneurs to adopt cleaner technology, she explained the issue of storing wanted chemicals for longer period and how spillage of the same can harm the workers life. “Better practices are there and adopting those will help factories reduce their expenditure in waste water management.”

Dr. Shanmuga Sundaram from TUV Rheinland was asked to share his experience about global practices of waste water management and environmental sustainability issue. Giving brief description about his company, he mentioned about the activities they started in 2011, which encompasses inspection and testing certificates for RMG factories. According to him, all the chemicals that we use in our day to day life, around 2430 chemical substances have been identified as cancer inducing if exposed to for long time; most of those are highly toxic for human body. In this connection he mentioned about REACH programs which consists of REACH: Regulation on Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals. IN a similar way, TUV Rhineland is working to make our RMG industries aware about the regulation, restrictions and authorization processes and connect their buyers with the procedure. They are providing awareness training, compliance manager training, gap assessment in the factory level, detailed chemical inventory assessment and training to prepare the roadmap to protect environment from hazardous chemical substances, etc. According to him, safety, cost-effectiveness and performance are interlinked though at the end of the day safety supersedes all the other issues. Any buyer from EU or USA market look for the safety while making a purchase. Understanding the importance of this and abiding by the rules set by REACH and other authoritative bodies, one can enter into the EU market; customers will have better confidence in them and business grows.

Tanuja Bhattacharjee was asked to share her experience while working for PSES with different factories. She mentioned about the Chemical Management Training Program and Chemical Management Improvement Program for the factories. As the part of the program, GIZ train local consultants with internationally recognized course material under the supervision of international trainers; after the academic training the consultants, get to implement their knowledge in practical field in factories, which agree to work with GIZ to develop a Chemical Management System. The consultants also identify the ‘hotspots’ that are responsible for non-productive management of chemical substances and quantify the presence of the amount of the chemical in the system. They also look into the chemical supply chain to get more information about storage and inventory of the substance. Finally, they prepare a report and submit it to the

Syed Mohammad Ismail shed lights on innovations in the field of use of chemicals and dyes and how that can help save water and energy. He detailed about Huntsman Singapore Pvt. Ltd.’s commitment to innovation, sustainability and collaboration. By emphasizing on the latter, he said, without collaboration with our stakeholders, we will not be able to achieve bigger goals. He drew attention towards three features: 1) by 2021 Bangladesh will double its RMG exports 2) every year 2 meters of water level is depleting 3) for every 20 meters of water level depletion; we need 500 million dollars to lift the water. Giving examples of the innovative reactive dye they launched in 2011, he said previously 300 liters of water was being used for per kilogram of cotton fabrics, whereas thanks to their innovation, it now requires only 20 liters for the same amount of fabric. Since water is a limited resource, he expressed his concern about the lack of water for factories in future.

David Hasanat from Viyellatex shared his experience about using water for industrial purposes.He mentioned about his early day challenges as an industrialist. To save that huge amount of water, they immediately took steps so that water can be recycled and reused for the same purpose again. Since then his company is working to put it in the DNA of the workers that water is a very costly and limited resources.

Throughout the time, his factory has tried various other

31 initiatives to save water. This in turn has reduced his power consumption, which not only save money but also was less harmful for environment. He also claimed that by saving water, energy and other compliant measures, his company is saving almost a million dollar every year.

Professor Manzurul Hassan from North South University shared some research experience regarding waste water management and disposal system. He stressed on the fact that the industry is producing various harmful particles every day that is making the air we breathe very toxic. “Considering about the waste waters, to establish green technology, we must make sure that factories try not to discharge harmful airborne particles for the environmental sustainability.”

Md. Sahajahan was asked about the regulatory issues pertaining to sustainable environment by limiting the disposal of less amount of wastewater. “The market lacks proper guidance and enough innovation is yet to be available.”

Recommendations: • We need to bring in more chemical experts from developed countries, share ideas with them and make the best out of their experiences.

• We need to change the regulatory system to be more fitting with the need of present day industrial activities.

• We need proper application of economic and fiscal tools for the protection of environment.

• We need proper allocation of limited resources to ensure further value addition.

• Proper system of penalization has to be there. Government has to take more stringent steps.

• Brands and retailers should provide incentive to the environmentally compliant factories to motivate them and encourage others to follow their footsteps.

Technical Vocational Educational Training Background: The TVET Reform Project is an initiative of the Government of Bangladesh, assisted by the International Labor Organization and funded by the European Union. The goal is to ensure Bangladesh’s competitiveness in the global market and reduce poverty by improving the quality of vocational educational and training.

Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) is indispensable for the development of human capital of Bangladesh. The contemporary labor market of Bangladesh is characterized by an increasing rate of female labor force participation, increases in underemployment - especially for women and those in the agriculture sector - and real wages.

In addition to indigenous private sector developments, there has been massive growth in foreign direct investment that has generated higher employment prospects in the industrial sector. In rural areas, non-farm employment has also increased along with public workfare programs.

Globalization and shifting opportunities for trade are also

having an impact on the labor market. The general direction of employment is moving away from traditional activities.

Despite the widening of the trade deficit, a large number of women work in export-oriented industries that collectively provide more than two-thirds of the country’s foreign exchange. Consequently, the dynamics of a modernizing economy warrant that particular attention should be paid to skill development to ensure that Bangladesh can continue to tap into sources of growth in a global economy.

The main challenge for the skill development system is to overcome its inadequate orientation to the labor market.

Formal providers of technical and vocational education and training do not have strong linkages with the private sector employers that drive the changing patterns of labor demand, nor do they have proper incentives to build those connections, which would ensure that skill development courses are relevant and useful to both graduates and employers.

From left to right: Shafquat Haider, (Chairman, Industry Skills Council Information Technology -ICT) ;Paul Weijers (Team Leader, Skills and Employment Program Bangladesh); Zafar Sobhan, Editor, Dhaka Tribune; Bettina Schmidt, GIZ; Md. Mokhlesur Rahman, PhD (Senior Operations Officer, Education Global Practice, The World Bank); Dr. Abdul Haque Talukder (Chairman, (In Charge) Bangladesh Technical Education Board); Tanzer Siddique, Head of Membership, BGCCI.

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“Skill, knowledge and innovation are driving forces of economic growth and social development globally.”

Introductory Speech: The key note speech was given by Magnus Schmid, Coordinator of PSES, GIZ, Bangladesh.

In his speech, he identified skill, knowledge and innovation as driving forces of economic growth and social development globally. In case of Bangladesh, according to him, one of the greatest challenge is creating employment for the vast population, of which 51% have no education and only around 5% have skills or vocational training. Against the actual need of training for 2 million people, only 500000 receive the training. He appreciated the establishment of National Skills Development Council, with support from ILO and approved by the Government of Bangladesh. He mentioned about the PSES organized tour to Germany where members from the Ministry of Labor and Employment of Bangladesh participated to know about the famous dual-vocational training system. The tour was financed by Bangladesh Government which bear testimony to the fact that they are really interested and committed to establish the trend of vocational training in this country. He mentioned about the 5000 female workers from the RMG sector who are being trained by GIZ and extended his gratitude towards all the organizations, which have helped in the venture. In his speech he also shed lights on the importance of inclusion of person with disability the mainstream employment and the need to train them up. Zafar Sobhan, Editor of the Dhaka Tribune moderated the panel.

Panelist: Dr. Abdul Haque Talukder from BTEB shed lights on his departmet’s success in imparting technical education.

As of now, there are around 7000 institutions in different levels under BTEB. BTEB’s other tasks include to accredit the institutions and service providers and then develop curriculum, conduct curriculum, examinations and certifications. BTEB’s current vision is to enhance the present rate of skilled manpower from 8% to 20% by 2021. The curriculum is being updated from the conventional system to a more technically advanced one. “To implement this vision, the government has already taken several measures. Around 22 ministries are working in collaboration with BTEB to materialize this project. Competency Based Trainings (CBT) are also being conducted simultaneously,” he informed the session.

Paul Weijers from ILO talked about the cultural reasons behind the lack of vocational training in our country. He said, “In Bangladesh, there is a cultural resistance to the notion of vocational education to a certain extent and a lack of emphasis on it. The primary focus of ILO is to reduce the skill deficiency of the manpower in the garments and leather industry of Bangladesh.

Employee retention is also a key issue before and after the vocational training is provided to

the employees. ILO and the garments factory owners are trying to bridge this gap through effective collaboration since stimulation of vocational training is of key priority.”

According to Mokhelsur Rahman, the World Bank has two objectives when it comes to TVET 1.

Eliminate extreme poverty 2.

Share prosperity However, in Bangladesh the per capita income is too low to be eligible for World Bank loan. Current portfolio commitment is around 6 billion. So, World Bank is trying to reform the TVET perspective in Bangladesh. There is a 70% vacancy in the teacher’s post in public institutions. Despite the difficulties, through World Bank projects’ assistance 1500 teachers have been hired in 48 public institutions. Public money is being legalized now. On the contrary, there is a need of structural change and awareness building in the private sector.

33 Shafquat Haider from Industry Skill Council Information Technology (ICT) described why skilled manpower is essential for business profit and increasing shareholder’s value. According to him, the moment unskilled manpower is transformed into skilled manpower in an institution, the institution is actually contributing to the society as whole and consequently performing its CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) activities. Again, physically disabled persons can also contribute to the growth of an institution if proper training is given to him or her. The government is enabling opportunities for the general mass to gain expertise in different IT programs so that they can lead a better livelihood.

However, proper subsidization of the infrastructure and the trainers is very important.

Bettina Schmidt from GIZ said that the Rana Plaza disaster triggered the inflow of foreign aides for the underprivileged workers in the RMG sector of Bangladesh. A reasonable accommodation system and modern amenities are absolutely essential for all the garments workers. Some of the workers were a burden to their families before getting employed in the garments factories which has created a paradigm shift.

Hence, proper training and educational benefits are to be provided to these workers so they can develop as more knowledgeable individuals and at the same time their safety needs to be ensured as well.

Tanzer Siddique described how BGCCI with other industry players is paving the way of TVET. He said, “vocational training is absolutely essential for efficiency, time management, cost reduction, increase of production capacity and motivation for employees. Two partners should be more involved in the scenario. One is machinery suppliers and the other is the factory owners. This is a very realistic vision and if implemented properly, it can pay very good dividends.”

Recommendations: 1. To achieve further productivity in the industrial sector, developing a flexible, responsive and market-oriented training system.

2. To get rid of the stigma due to cultural bias, proper information about the benefit of TEVT has to be communicated towards the factory owners as well as common mass.

3. Midlevel managers need to be trained further to brush up their skills in management and work distribution.

4. In both RMG and Leather industries, factory owners should take more impetus to develop the skill of their workers.

5. Vocational training should be included more prominently in national curriculum.

6. Disabled people should be given equal opportunity to receive training.

Concluding Speech: H.E. Gerben de Jong, Ambassador of Kingdom of Netherlands His Excellency gave a brief but insightful speech shedding light on the current scenario of Bangladesh. In his speech, he mentioned about the little Meena, the 8-year old girl who lost everything in the Rana Plaza disaster. Ambassador stated that we could pluck courage from the sweet rendition of “We Shall overcome” by Meena in front of the audience of the conference during the presentation of Meena e.V. He said, every girl of Meena’s age deserve to live in a healthy environment, get education and doesn’t need to confront any sort of violence. “I believe today’s conference is all about ensuring those important things for Meena.”

Mentioning about the RMG’s export target that is 50 billion USD by 2021, he said, “ we all know what needs to be done to ensure continued growth of the sector. Improvement in labor condition and occupational and health safety is very much important.”

Pointing towards the leather sector the Ambassador said that compliance scenario in some of the tanneries is really appalling. In this case too, the developments made in the RMG sector can be a good example to follow.

He welcomed both government and private sector to work hand in hand for the betterment of the CSR scenario in the industries.

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CSR IN MOTION

Savar Victims Support by Meena e.v.

Savar Victims Support has been on the forefront of the Rana Plaza Tragedy, providing individual relief to those in need.

The objective has been to assist the Rana Plaza victims and dependents with medical treatment and essential needs. The 2014 GSR conference displayed paintings created by survivors of the Rana Plaza tragedy. The paintings were produced by children and young women who survived the tragic collapse of the building during Recreational Days organized by Meena Verein. The paintings welcomed the distinguished guests in the foyer of the Radisson and were displayed throughout the conference hall. Meena Verein has been working since the tragedy first on immediate relief, stabilization, and finally rehabilitation. The Verein has helped more than 3,000 victims and support 35 young mothers, and 27 orphaned children. The GSR conference was a huge success and cards and paintings were sold for the future of the survivors. The visual enhancements of the art esthetically embellished the conference, and provided guests the stories of the survivors telling a thousand words.

Scarves from Chars by Friendship Friendship is a value- based non-governmental organization that works with poor and marginalized communities. It was established in Bangladesh in 2002 by Runa Khan with the aim of providing essential basic services to the most

inaccessible and hard to reach areas. The organization’s goal is to help char dwellers to develop basic skills and provide an infrastructure that will help these communities to get out of the poverty trap and give them sustainable opportunities and possibilities. The organization started to work through providing both primary and secondary healthcare through the innovative concept of Floating Hospitals. Friendship currently has three floating hospitals, namely the Lifebuoy Friendship Hospital sponsored by Unilever, the Emirates Friendship Hospital sponsored by the Emirates Foundation and the Rongdhonu Friendship Hospital which was formerly the Rainbow Warrior II donated to Friendship by Greenpeace.

Friendship expanded the scope of its work to Education, Sustainable Economic Development, Good Governance, Disaster Management & Infrastructural Development and Cultural Preservation.

Runa Khan is the Founder and Executive Director of Friendship. She has won multiple awards including the Rolex Award for Enterprise in 2006, Social Entrepreneur Award from the Schwab Foundation in 2012 and is an Ashoka Fellow since 1994 for her work with disenfranchised communities in Bangladesh.

For more information about Friendship, please visit: www. friendship-bd.org

Empowering women from the informal sector

by TARANGO TARANGO is a voluntary non-government organization which dreams of, and desires to, contribute to the establishment of a just and poverty-free society by organizing and training the most disadvantaged women through its committed, dedicated and skilled workers. It further aims to make the women resourceful, skilled and production oriented by assisting them to develop their human potential and talents to promote leadership and entrepreneurship in order to take up the responsibilities of sustainable economic activities to establish a self-reliant and gender-balanced society .

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PROFILE OF THE SPONSORS

Embassy of the Kingdom of Netherlands GIZ, Dhaka GIZ An innovative partner for the global challenges of tomorrow --The wide range of services offered by the Deutsche Gesellschaft fĂźr Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH are based on a wealth of regional and technical expertise and on tried and tested management know-how. We are a German federal enterprise and offer workable, sustainable and effective solutions in political, economic and social change processes.

Most of our work is commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). However, GIZ also operates on behalf of other German ministries and public and private bodies in Germany and abroad. These include governments of other countries, the European Commission, the United Nations and the World Bank. We are equally committed to helping our clients in the private sector attain their goals.

GIZ operates throughout Germany and in more than 130 countries worldwide. Our registered offices are in Bonn and Eschborn. We have more than 17,000 staff members around the globe, some 70% of whom are employed locally as national personnel. GIZ’s business volume was about EUR 2 billion as at 31 December 2011.

The Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (EKN) in Dhaka was established in 1972, after the Dutch government recognized Bangladesh on 11 February 1972. Following consultations with the Bangladeshi Government, the Netherlands Government took the decision to include Bangladesh in the list of priority countries that qualified for substantial Netherlands development assistance. Since the inception of the cooperation programme, Bangladesh has been one of the top recipients of Netherlands ODA. Through financial and technical support, the Netherlands aims at assisting Bangladesh in its policy to reduce poverty and to achieve sustainable growth.

Support now focuses on water management, food security, reproductive health and rights and sustainable value chains.

Taking into consideration the substantial economic development of Bangladesh since independence, the bilateral relations are being broadened and strengthened in the field of economic cooperation, investment and trade promotion. The Netherlands Embassy actively pursues identifying business opportunities with Bangladesh through the Dutch Good Growth Fund, the Netherlands Bangladesh online business platform in collaboration with Nyenrode University, Private Sector Development Program and the Matchmaking Facility.

In all of these activities and trade relationships with Bangladesh, the subject of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a key priority of the Netherlands. The Netherlands has an active CSR policy that promotes the importance and benefits of CSR, and is committed to leading by example.

The Embassy also advises Dutch companies on the CSR-related risks they may encounter in Bangladesh and has developed a CSR Passport that is available online for companies operating in Bangladesh.

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TUV Rheinland

German Embassy The Embassy promotes the economic ties between Germany and Bangladesh. Germany is the second largest export market for Bangladesh worldwide. German exports to Bangladesh are also growing as German companies find increasingly attractive trade and investment opportunities in Bangladesh.

In case of development cooperation, Bangladesh and Germany have already enjoyed friendly and cordial bilateral relationships for more than 40 years. Germany’s development cooperation with Bangladesh is guided by the Millennium Development Goals and based on the Poverty Reduction Strategy of the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) as formulated in the Sixth Five Year Plan 2011-15 with the overarching aim of poverty reduction. Germany started to provide technical and financial support forBangladesh in 1972, right after its independence.

An overall amount of more than EUR 2.5 billion has been committed so far.

Up until 2012 German development cooperation exclusively provided grants in the context of Financial Cooperation with Bangladesh. In 2014, the first soft loan (EUR 45 Mio.) was signed between KfW and GoB. Furthermore, we are contributing to the development cooperation of the European Union and other multilateral institutions like the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the UNOrganisations working in Bangladesh to which Germany is a major provider of funds.

TÜV Rheinland has been developing secure, sustainable solutions in the triangle of conflicting interests between man, technology and the environment since 1872.

Today, TÜV Rheinland is a leading international service provider group with 500 locations in 65 countries on all continents. The group has a workforce of 19000 people, who generate revenue of €1.7 billion a year. In markets undergoing changes, TÜV Rheinland acts with high quality deliverables at its heart and continuously works to increase its appeal to customers, partners and employees.

TUV Rheinland Bangladesh Pvt. Ltd. is a limited liability company incorporated and existing under the laws of Bangladesh having its registered office in Dhaka/ Bangladesh. The Company is a technical service provider which includes documenting the safety and quality of new and existing products, system and services. The Company is a fully owned subsidiary of TUV International GmbH, registered in Cologne, Germany and belongs to the TUV Rheinland Group.

With CSR & Sustainability Services, TUV Rheinland qualifies companies to access new markets and customers through Social Compliance Audits (BSCI, SEDEX, and ICS), GAP analysis, CoC and quality audits by providing highly expertise services.

Also in system certification side TUV Rheinland provide services for Environmental Management (ISO 14001), Quality Management (ISO 9001, ISO/TS 16949, EN 9100), Occupational Health and Safety (OHSAS 18001), REACH training and SVHC testing, as well as training as per QMS, EMS, ISMS, OHSAS standards and others.

BSCI BSCI was launched in 2003 as an initiative of the Foreign Trade Association (FTA) in response to the increasing business demand for transparent and improved working conditions in the global supply chain.

We unite over 1,500 companies around one common Code of Conduct and support them in their efforts towards building an ethical supply chain by providing them with a step-by-step development-oriented system, applicable to all sectors and all sourcing countries.

The fundamental goals of BSCI are only achievable through a strong commitment from participants to implement the system. Our work is based on the BSCI Code of Conduct, which our participants accept upon joining us. The code ensures a strong and credible commitment from both BSCI participants and their business partners to achieve our goals.

BSCI is a system open to all retail, brand and importing companies committed to improving working conditions in the global supply chain. Interested companies and associations can only participate in BSCI after joining FTA.

37 Profile of the speakers of the 3rd GSR Conference:

Comptex Ltd, Robin Knitwear Ltd, Jamuna Bank Ltd, Islamic Finance & Investment Ltd, International Holding Ltd. He is also in the Board of Governor of Eastern University of Bangladesh.

OPENING CEREMONY:

Daniel Seidl, Executive Director of BGCCI Mr. Seidl is since 2009 the Executive Director of the Bangladesh German Chamber of Commerce & Industry (BGCCI). Before coming to Bangladesh he worked over 15 years as business consultant and Director in different companies in the field of strategy and marketing. His MBA he achieved at the private University Witten/Herdecke, Germany and received a stipend from Harvard, USA.

Dr. Ferdinand v. Weyhe, Charge d’Affaires, Embassy to Federal Republic of Germany in Bangladesh Dr. von Weyhe joined the Federal Foreign Service in 2004.

Previously he has had postings in Sofia (Bulgaria), St. Petersburg (Russia) and in the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin. Since 2013 he has been the Deputy Head of the Mission in Bangladesh and is serving as the Chargé d´Affaires at present. As part of his military service Dr. von Weyhe was attached to the mountain infantry from 1996-1997 and finished his one year stint in the German Army as a second - lieutenant. A lawyer by training Dr. von Weyhe studied law and history in several traditional German university towns, completing his legal education with the second state examination. His PhD thesis focused on the history of law.

RMG & FIRE SAFETY PANEL Key Note Speaker

H.E. Pierre Mayaudon, EU Ambassador Pierre Mayaudon is the Head of the European Union Delegation to Bangladesh. Before coming to Bangladesh, he was the serving deputy head of the EU Delegation to Pakistan. He has an extensive diplomatic and defence background in the French Administration, including as deputy director within the Ministry of Defence.

Olaf Handloegten, Head of Management Unit, Security, Reconstruction and Peace, Global Initiative on Disaster Management Olaf Handloegten is heading a very important unit in Global Initiative on Disaster Management. Previously he was serving as the country director of GIZ Dhaka Office.

Panelists

Sakhawat Abu Khair, President BGCCI. Mr. Sakhawat Abu Khair Mohammed is the current President of the Bangla-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BGCCI). He owns a Master degree in Textile Engineering from the University of” Westsaechsische Hochschule Zwickau “. He is the owner/shareholder of the following companies, where he also act as Managing director: Robintex Ltd,

Rob Wayss, Executive Director, Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh Rob Wayss is the Executive Director of the Accord on Fire

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and Building Safety in Bangladesh. The Accord is designed to make garment factories in Bangladesh safe workplaces.

Rob has 20 years experience in the US, Europe, Asia, and Central America as a labor and industrial relations practitioner and in promoting fundamental workplace rights. He has performed this work in various capacities with the New York City Mayor’s Office of Labor Relations, the American Center for International Labor Solidarity (AFL-CIO), the US public employee unions (AFSCME), and the International Labour Organization (ILO). He has taught labor relations courses at Empire State College (SUNY).

Rob has a Masters degree in Labor and Industrial Relations from the University of Rhode Island. He has lived and worked in Bangladesh for 7 years.

Mesbah Rabin, Vice President and Managing Director, Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety (Platform of North American Brands) He is currently entrusted with leadership Role in achieving the goal of improving Worker Safety in work place.

He has been working at the RMG industry for last 8 years.

During this period, he made significant attempts to contribute a sustainable model for bringing about equilibrium in the power dynamics between the employer and the employees.

He also worked for capacity building to help develop the infrastructure for creating a compliant image of the industry globally.

Abdul Mohammed Jabbar, Managing Director (DBL group) Mr. M.A. Jabbar is a distinguished personality in the readymade garments (RMG) sector of Bangladesh and is the main architect of DBL Group. After completing his graduation in computer science from U.S.A he came back to Bangladesh with a vision to make valuable contributions to the economy of the country. Accordingly, he joined Dulal Brothers Ltd. as a Marketing Director and was able to achieve increasing export orders for garments, in particular from buyers in the UK.

Nazma Akter, Executive Director for AWAJ Foundation Since the age of 16, the former child laborer Nazma Akter has been campaigning for better working conditions in the textile factories of Bangladesh. Today she creates spaces – women’s cafés – where female textile workers can learn about their rights. On behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and the European Union, GIZ is working to improve social and environmental standards – with NazmaAkter as one of its partners.

She is now working at the Awaj Foundation as the Executive Director.

LEATHER INDUSTRY PANEL Key Note Speaker

Adnan Nafis, Head of Trade Promotion, Social Responsibility & Consultancy BGCCI He has been serving at BGCCI since 2012. With extensive experience of working in different organizations from Bangladesh and Thailand, trade Promotion, trade diversification and branding are his forte. He has lead and conducted different research projects for more than four years and has more than eight publications about Bangladesh Ready Made Garments sector, trade promotion and diversification. He is working as Lead Consultant for Different International organizations in the field of Digital Payment system, Vocational education (TVET), RMG & Leather sector. He has worked for some of the top organizations in Bangladesh, Thailand and China.

39 Panelists

Md. Saiful Islam, Managing Director, Picard Bangladesh Ltd. Md. Saiful Islam is one the leading businessmen/industrialists in the country having 28 years business experience in various sectors like Shipbuilding, leather-goods manufacturing, dredging etc. He has started his business carrier in 1986 in shipping sector such as Ship-Chartering, Ship-owning, Ship-repair etc. In 1990, he established RMG factories & a fashion leather goods factory in Dhaka and started export the products to abroad. In 1995, he established a joint venture company (namely, PICARD Bangladesh Ltd.) in conjunction with PICARD Lederwaren GmbH Co. & KG, Germany which manufactures/exports leather hand bags, briefcases and small leather goods and getting Export Trophy for every year.

In the year 2000, he formed a shipbuilding company (with professional mariners) namely, Western Marine Shipyard Ltd (WMShL). - one of the leading shipyard in Bangladesh.

Western Marine Shipyard has already built over 100 vessels both for Inland Water Ways & for Overseas Ship Owner.

Western Marine Shipyard has built the largest Ice Class Multipurpose Container Vessel 5200DWT for German Ship Owner in a series of 8 (Eight) Vessels.

Tariqul Islam Khan, Chairman, Minikin Ltd. Tariqul Islam Khan has vast experience in the field of tannery and leather manufacturing. He started working at the Madina tannery in early 80s and there was no looking back. Besides setting up his own business, he had taught at Bangladesh College of Leather Technology as Assistant Professor. His companies, both Minikin Ltd. and Pretty House Ltd. are Indenting Company as well as trading organization deals with chemicals used in leather making. He is also the Managing Director of Marsons Tannery Ltd. He is associated with a number of social causes. He is the Founder Member of NFOWD (Organisations Working with the Disabled); Vice Chairman : HICARE (Society for Education and Care of Hearing Impaired 3. Children of Bangladesh); Vice Chairman : Co-ordination council, UCD -5(Urban Community Development, Project- 5): an organization under the Ministry of Social Welfare for well being of the under privileged people of the society. He is the Life member of Bangladesh Chemical Society and Life Member and Former Vice Chairman of Bangladesh Society

of Leather Technologist’s and Engineers. He was the former Chairman of Bangladesh Chemical Importer’s and Merchant’s Association.

Sobur Ahmed, Chairman of the leather Engineering department, University of Dhaka.

Sobur Ahmed has been working as a Head/ Chairman of the Department since 2012 for the Department of Leather Engineering of the institute of Leather Engineering and Technology, University of Dhaka.

As a lecturer (tech) of Bangladesh College of Leather Engineering & Technology, he conducted different courses at graduation level in Bangladesh College of Leather Technology. He worked as a Member of different committee in Bangladesh Standard and Testing Institute (BSTI), Dhaka and conducted various training in the field of leather, footwear & leather products manufacturer. He rendered his service as an analyst at BLSC (Bangladesh Leather Service Centre). During his stint as leather technologist at Apex Tannery Limited, he worked for production planning & control, colour matching and quality control, technical supervision & co-ordination of different operations involved in leather finishing. He also worked for developed chemical formulations of different types of finished leather for the global market.

He is a Life Member of Bangladesh Chemical Society (LM1202) and Leather Engineers and Technologists Society, Bangladesh. (LM- 34). He was a former Member of Productivity Improvement Team, FDDI, Noida, India ( LM101).

Md. Mominul Ahsan, CEO, Centre of Excellence for Leather Skill Bangladesh Limited (COEL).

Md. Mominul Ahsan is a Senior Management Professional with more than 24 years of experience. He has successfully worked with reputed private sector, multinational companies including Sanofi-Aventis & Bata Shoe Company Bangladesh Limited.

Mr. Ahsan served as the Group Head of Human Resources in Apex Group, one of the leading groups in Bangladesh and is working with Apex Footwear Limited, Apex Tannery Limited, and Apex Pharma Limited since November 2005. Mr. Ahsan served as a National Consultant for the International Labor Organization (ILO) from 2009-2013. In

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this role, he coordinated with leather sector, private industry stakeholders to get industry inputs on TVET policy, National Technical Vocational Qualification Framework (NTVQF), Unit of Competencies, Course Accreditation documents. He also contributed to the above as a member of the Industry Skills Councils (ISC). He then helped established Centre of Excellence for Leather Skill Bangladesh Limited (COEL).

Iftekhar Haider Chowdhury, Industrial Relations Manager, Bata Iftekhar Haider Chowdhury has been working for 17 years in the field of human resources. He provides the company with functional and consultative guidance by developing and implementing sound, workable plans and practice for employee relation functions. Besides, he maintains harmonious and integral industrial relations in the company and fulfills the corporate social responsibilities & compliance in line with the policy of the company.

He has a dream to materialize a creative world for the underprivileged and disadvantaged children.

SOCIAL PROTECTION OF WORKERSAIMING FURTHER TO ENHANCE PRODUCTIVITY AND REPUTATION PANEL Key Note Speaker

as an international regular staff based in HQ and conducted /task managed economic and sector works under the South Asia Poverty Reduction and Economic Management (PREM) unit of the World Bank in countries such as India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Dr. Sen has accumulated extensive international consulting experience working for organizations such as the Asian Development Bank, UN-ESCAP, UNDP, DFID and WHO. He has worked with a distinguished group of academics, and produced a number of publications in peer-reviewed global and local academic journals and/ or contributed chapters to several books in the area of poverty analysis, human development, growth economics, labor market and regional inequality issues.

Sarah Krasley, Journalist for The New York Times & Al Jazeera As Product Manager for Sustainability at Autodesk, Sarah Krasley is responsible for developing tools for manufacturers to create more sustainable designs in the digital prototyping space. Prior to Autodesk, she was Communications Director at the Center for Resource Solutions, a think-tank focused on renewable energy and carbon mitigation policies and market mechanisms. In that role, she helped companies across industries make evocative and accurate claims about their renewable energy use. Krasley serves on the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Working Group on Sustainable Products and Processes, and the Business Advisory Council for the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute.

Panelists

Binayak Sen, Research Director, Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) Dr. Binayak Sen obtained an M.Sc. in economics from Moscow Lomonosov State University, Moscow in 1982 with distinction, specializing in history of economic thought, and a Ph.D. in Economics from the Department of India and South Asian Economies of the Institute of Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow in 1985, with development economics as the chosen area of specialization. He was a Visiting Research Fellow at the Research Administration Department of the World Bank, Washington, D.C. during June-August 1992.

During 2004-2009, while on leave from BIDS, he has worked as a Senior Economist at the World Bank in Washington, D.C

J端rgen Kretz, Country Coordinator, German Federal Ministry for Economic Co-operation and Development (BMZ) J端rgen Kretz is Desk Officer for Bangladesh, Bhutan and SAARC at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). His areas of responsibility include cooperation on climate adaptation, energy effciency & renewable energies, justice reform as well as social & environmental standards in the ready made garment

41 sector. He is member of the BMZ´s steering committee on sustainability.

Prior to joining BMZ, Jürgen was a policy advisor to Viola von Cramon, member of the German Bundestag. He also served as a lecturer in China Studies at Freie Universität Berlin. Jürgen studied Political Science and Intercultural Communication at Technische Universität Chemnitz, Freie Universität Berlin and Beijing International Studies University.

He works at the focal point of contact for the organization’s public-private engagements. His expertise lies in devising developmental programs within the company in the areas of social and environmental aspect.

SUSTAINABLE AND PROFITABLE MANAGEMENT OF WATER, CHEMICALS AND WASTE WATER: WHAT THIS MEANS FOR CONSUMERS, THE ENVIRONMENT AND YOUR BUSINESS” PANEL Key Note Speaker

Johanna Knoess Head of Sector Initiative Social Protection, Deutsche Gesellschaftfür Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH She has been working in this position since May 2013 and with GIZ/GTZ since 2002. Prior to her current position as Head of the Sector Initiative in GIZ Head Office, she was Programme Director of the GIZ supported Social Protection Programme in Indonesia.

She leads GIZ’s policy advisory services in the field of social protection to the German Federal Ministry of Economic Development and Cooperation (BMZ).

Heng Sophannarith, Deputy Director of Health Insurance HengSophannarith is working for Deputy Director of Health Insurance Department of National Social Security Fund (NSSF)/Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training (MoLVT), from 2007-until now (experience more than 8 years old).

At GSR Conference 2014, he is looking forward to discuss about Work Injury Insurance Scheme in Cambodia. He will also share his overall experience and ideas of working in the field.

Mohammed Zahidullah, General Manager, Corporate He has been working in DBL Group for 12 years. He is working directly under the Board of Directors on development projects and heading the Sustainability Team of DBL Group

Kazy Mohammad Iqbal Hossain, Senior Environmental Chemist (Asian Subcontinent-Dhaka Based) Kazy Mohammad IqbalHossain has been working at C&A Sourcing International Ltd. Bangladesh Liaison Office, around 2.5 years in the current position.

He is leading the program on Environmental Sustainability within the supply base located in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Srilanka. Educate the supply chain partners as well as C&A internal teams on Sustainable Production and Procurements, especially on Use of Safer Chemistry, Wastewater Treatment and Resources Efficiency.

He is a Water Resources Technologist by education and has specialized Masters on Water Resources Management and Environmental Sciences. He has more than 10 years of experiences in dealing with Social and Environmental Standards in Textile and Footwear value chain.

Moderator

Amy Yee, Independent Journalist, New York Times contributor Amy Yee is an American journalist who was based in New Delhi from 2006-13 and was a 2013-14 Knight-Bagehot Fellow in Economics and Business Journalism at Columbia University. Her articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Economist, Wall Street Journal, International Herald Tribune, The Lancet, Forbes, Washington Post, The Nation, Slate, The Atlantic.com, Christian Science Monitor, the Boston Globe and others.

In 2013 she was a winner in the United Nations Correspondents’ Association (UNCA) awards for reporting

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from South Asia. She wrote lead stories in the Global Post series that won First Prize for Public Health Reporting in the 2013 Association of Healthcare Journalists annual contest.

Panelists

Tanuja Bhattacharjee, Senior Environmental Advisor Tanuja Bhattacharjee is working as senior environmental advisor for the project - Promotion of Social & Environmental Standards in the Industry (PSES) - implemented by GIZ in Bangladesh for the last two years. Since PSES provides capacity-building support for the textile sector towards improvement of environmental performance, Tanuja is specially taking care of promotion of energy efficiency measures, eco-friendly waste management and developing local resources.

She obtained her B.Sc (Mechanical Eng) from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) in 2005 and M. Eng (Energy) from Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) Thailand in 2008. Prior to GIZ, she worked in both ac

David Hasanat, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Viyellatex Group Under the leadership of David Hasanat, Viyellatex Group has become one of the largest growing business conglomerates in Bangladesh. Within a short time, he has received many prestigious awards such as the Business Person of the Year in 2007, and was also adjudged as a Commercially Important Person by the Government of Bangladesh. In addition, he has led Viyellatex to numerous prominent awards and accolades such as the CSR Award in 2008, Climate Award in 2010, Export Excellence Award in 2009 and 2010, the Best Workers’ Friendly Knitwear Industry in 2010 and the Plan ‘A’ award by Marks & Spencer.

David Hasanat was elected President of the United Nations Global Compact Bangladesh Network in 2012 and is also a member of the board of trustees of the CSR Center, specializing in activities that facilitate, encourage and create awareness on CSR issues in Bangladesh. He is also independent director of Bata Shoe Company (BD) Ltd. and Advisory Board member of UNIDO Green Industry Platform.

Dr. Shanmuga Sundaram, Managing Director, TÜV Rheinland Bangladesh Pvt.Ltd, Dhaka, Bangladesh Dr. ShanmugaSundaram has been working in his field for last 18 years. He completed his M.Sc. and M.Tech in Inorganic Chemistry and Process Metallurgy respectively.

His PhD subject was Chemistry. He has been published in several international journals.

He has good expertise to Implement the new European Environmental l Directives and Regulation which includes REACH (Regitration ,Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemical Substance) , RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances) as per Directive 2002/95/EC, WEEE, ELV (End of Life Vehicle) Directive 2000/53/EC and REACH. He conducted 200 + REACH, RoHS seminar and work shop in Germany, Singapore, Indonesia, India andSrilanka. He is also an expert in Hazardous Substance Process Management (HSPM). He handled various Environmental and PPP projects including REACH India ( Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemical substances) exclusively for Leather and Home Textile Industry.

Professor Manzurul Hassan, North South University Professor Hassan has been in the university teaching and research for more than two decades. He teaches courses on GIS, research methodology, epidemiology, and environmental health. Apart from Jahangirnagar University, he is a part-time faculty at North South University, Dhaka.

He is the MD of HenCons, a Dhaka-based consulting firm working on human health and environmental issues. He has also served as consultant to a number of world bodies, including the ADB, WB, UNICEF, & WHO. He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (with TIBG) and member of a number of international and national professional bodies.

Professor Hassan’s research concerns the pattern of climate

43 TECHNICAL VOCATIONAL EDUCATIONAL PANEL

Paul Weijers is working for the DFID/SDC funded programme called “Skills and Employment Programme Bangladesh”. In short SEP-B, this programme started its inception phase in April this year. The MoU has been signed with the Government of Bangladesh last month, and the programme is now in its pre-operation phase working with six pilot projects.

Key Note Speaker

Magnus Schmid, Co-ordinator, PSES development (value chain promotion), training for entrepreneurs on compliance and M&E systems, preparation and implementation of M&E systesm and organizational development which he obtained while working with consulting companies, and civil society organizations in Central and South America, Africa and recently in Asia. He obtained a Msc in Agriculture Economics and Social Sciences from the Technical University of Munich (TUM),and carried out postgraduate studies in Rural Development at the Centre for Advanced Training in Rural Development, Humboldt University of Berlin (HUB).

Panelists

Md. Abdul HoqueTalukderPh.D, Joint Secretary Chairman, Bangladesh Technical Education Board, Md. Abdul HoqueTalukder Obtained his PhD. Degree from Institute of Bangladesh Studies, Rajshahi University, in August, 2003. He completed his Master of Social Science (MSS) in Social Welfare from the Institute of Social Welfare and Research (ISWR) of Dhaka University in the year 1978 He has vast experience in research on various Education related topics. He has a number of research publications on topics like child labor, social work strategy etc.

Paul Weijers, Team Leader Programme Bangladesh

Skills

and

Employment

Bettina Schmidt, Senior Advisor, “Promotion of Social and Environmental Standards in the Industry “ (PSES) She is a German Social Scientist with 20 years of experience in skills development. Her focus is on including persons with sustainable employment for them. Part of her experience is out of assignments in India and Bangladesh. She states that the economic inclusion of persons with disabilities is crucial for a country’s poverty reduction strategy. Also private sector is not yet aware of the advantages a skilled workforce that includes persons with disabilities can offer “a source the industry can tap into”.

Tanzer Siddique, Head of Membership, BGCCI. Tanzer Siddique has wide experience of conducting and Vocational Education and Training for Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) which includes the projects: * Survey on Apprenticeship Training Needs in Enterprises in Bangladesh * Inclusive RMG Skills Training for Women Before joining BGCCI, He served as the Research assistant for the University of Cologne, Department of Human Geography. His Other field research experiences in Bangladesh include the projects Risk Management of Societal Claims in Transnational Networks (Mr. Christian Ditsche), Poverty reduction through social business (Ms. Kerstin Maria Hamburg) and Dhaka Hazard Project: Social adaptation to climate change: Coping with floods in Dhaka’s Informal settlements (Mr. Tibor Assheuer)

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CONCLUDING SPEECH

H.E. Gerben de Jong, Ambassador, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Dhaka.

Distinguished Ambassdor of the Netherlands. He has been working with the Dutch ministry of Foreign Affair since 1996.

He has been appointed as Ambassador in Vietnam, Senegal and currently in Bangladesh. From 2005 to 2009 he has been the Director of the Dept of Environment and water in The Hague. He has also been an active Board Member of GEF (Global Environment Facility).

Participant List of Global Social Responsibility 2014 Company name

Participants Name

3f South Asia Regional Coordinator

Sten Toft Petersen

A AAA Finance & Investment Ltd. AAA Finance & Investment Ltd. ABA Group Abdul Monem Limited Abdul Monem Limited Abul Khair Steel Ltd ( AKSL) Acid Survivors Foundation Agni Systems Ltd. Agni Systems Ltd. Ahmed Mashuque & Co. Akij Group Akij Textile Mills Ltd Albatross Technologies Ltd. Al-Faruque Group Al-Faruque Group American International University Bangladesh Ananta Group Ananta Group Ananta Group Armana group Arrong Artisan Ceramics Ltd.(Finlays Bangladesh) ASIA PACIFIC GENERAL INSURANCE CO. LTD. Auchan Auchan DOAPI Dhaka

Khwaja Arif Ahmed Mohammad Ferdous Mazid A M Al-Amin ASM Mainuddin Monem Kazi Sharafath Hossain Md.Quamrul Islam Md. Sazzadul Hoque Farhana Imam Md. Abdus Salam Mr. Moniruzzaman Sk. Jamil Uddin Abu Shohel Brig. Gen. A.K.M Farid Uddin Ahmed (Retired) Ferdows Q.M R . Kabir Chowdhury Tahsina Khan Chowdhury Abd-Allah Quaseed Humayun Ur Rahman Sheikh Jahirul Islam Biplob Kumar Hazra Madhuree Sanchita Smrity Md. Nasimul Islam Nasim Shah Abul Kasem Rama SECK Rama SECK

B Babylon BD Babylon BD BADSHA GROUP BAG Footwear

Mahmood Alam Siddique Mostafizur Rahaman Masud Musa Badsha Amirul Islam Babu

45 Banani Trade Associates Bangladesh Apparels Workers Federation-BAWF Bangladesh Embassy, Berlin, Germany Bangladesh Federation of Workers Solidarity (BFWS) Bangladesh Federation of workers Solidarity (BFWS) Bangladesh Fire Service & Civil Defence Bangladesh Heritage Foundation, National Security & Counter Terrorism Bangladesh National Garments Workers Employees League (BNGWEL) Bangladesh National Garments Workers Employees League (BNGWEL) Bangladesh Songbad Sonstha (BSS) Bangladesh Textile Today Bank AlFalah Barrister Khan & Associates BASF Bangladesh Limited BASF Bangladesh Limited Bengal group Beximco Textiles Division Beximco Textiles Division BGMEA University of Fashion and Technology BGMEA University of Fashion and Technology bKash Limited bKash Limited bKash Limited bKash Limited bKash Limited BSRM Group of Companies Bureau Veritas CPS Bangladesh Bureau Veritas CPS Bangladesh Bushra International Bushra International

Harun-or Rashid Md.Towhidur Rahman Dr. Syed Masum Ahmed Choudhury Ferdaus Ahmed Ruhul Amin Major Mohammad Zihadul Islam Amb. Waliur Rahman Sirajul Islam Rony Sirajul Islam Rony Ashequn Chowdhury A S M Tareq Amin Mr. Nawab Md. Manirul Islam Khan Shafkat Mustafa Shorful Islam Nawshin Khair Md. Raziur Rahman Khan Mr. Khalid Shahrior Mohammad Iftekhar Rahman Shamsad Hasnine A.T.M Mahbub Alam Golam Anjumanarul Islam Kamal Quadir Mohammad Azmal Huda Rezaul Hossain Ruhi Murshid Ahmed Fardous Malek Rasanga U. Hewage MR. KESHAB SEN MR. RUSBEL DUTTA (SUMON)

C CEO, Premier Group Classical Handmade Products BD Concern Charles Voegele Fashion (HK) Limited Consistent Certification Services Ltd. Consulting Service International Control Union Corona Group Corona Group CSI - Consulting Service International Ltd.

Kazi Abdul Mazid Md. Tauhid Bin Abdus Salam Soroj Dash Mr. Stephan Schuh Jahirul Haque Khan Miss. Khan Izmet Nashra Jordi Meijer Brig Gen Anwar Hussain Sonia Rahman Alyssa Will

D DACHSER (Bangladesh) Limited DACHSER (Bangladesh) Limited DBL Group DBL Group DBL Group DBL Group DBL Group DEG- The German Investment and Development Company Delcot Ltd. Department of Environment DHL Global Forwarding (bangladesh) Limited DHL global Forwarding Bangladesh DHL global Forwarding Bangladesh Diamond World Ltd. Digital Factory International Ltd. DIRD Group Dird Group

Jahangir Alam Sharker Syed Sadaquat Hossain M. A. Jabbar Mahmudul Hasan Mashook Mujib Chowdhury Mr. Mohammed Zahidullah Triporna Das Arif Iqbal Khan Dayem Khandker Syed Nazmul Ahsan M. Nooruddin Chowdhury Afzal Hossain Ishita Mehjabin Dilip Kumar Agarwala Jonathan Reinhard Md. Aktaruzzaman Md. Salahuddin

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E ECLECTIC Edison Technologies Ltd. Edison Technologies Ltd. EL CORTE INGLES EL CORTE INGLES Embassy of Japan Embassy of Switzerland EMC-Green GmbH EMC-Green GmbH EMC-Green GmbH Energypac Power Generation Ltd. Epyllion Group Epyllion Group Epyllion Group Epyllion Group Epyllion Group Epyllion Group Epyllion Group Epyllion Group Epyllion Group EQMS Consulting Limited Everest Fine Porcelain Ltd.

F

F.F. Trading Corporation Fair Wear Foundation Farooq Bhai Farooq Bhai, Karben Solar Energy Ltd. FCI Group Fortuna Leather Craft Ltd Fortuna Leather Craft Ltd Fresh Foods Ltd. Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES), Bangladesh Office Friendship Bangladesh Friendship Bangladesh Friendship Bangladesh Friendship Bangladesh Friendship Bangladesh Friendship Bangladesh Friendship Bangladesh Fire Service & Civil Defence Directorate Fire Service & Civil Defence Directorate Friendship Bangladesh Fire Service & Civil Defence Directorate Fire Service & Civil Defence Directorate Friendship Bangladesh Friendship Bangladesh Friendship Bangladesh Friendship Bangladesh Friendship Bangladesh Friendship Bangladesh

G

Garments Tailors Workers League (GTWL) German Embassy, Dhaka German University Bangladesh Germany Trade and Invest Giant Textiles Ltd Giant Textiles Ltd GIZ GIZ

Md. Moniruzzaman Aminur Rashid Mr. Jakaria Shahid Alberto Fernandez MarĂ­a Lecuona HAI Jalalul Tamara Kabir Eric David Hochdorffer M Zhahad Mahmud Uwe Richter Rezwanul Kabir Arshad Ali Chowdhury Bokhtiar Kamal Javed Ahmed M.A.Hashem Md. Junaid Abu Salay Musa Md. Rezaul Kabir Md. Sadrul Amin Bhuiyan Mohammad Shahidul Islam Mohammed Showket Iqbal Kazi Farhed Iqubal Engr. Rashed Maksud Khan

Ahmad H. Shahnawaz Shatil Ara Rashed Ahamed Mr. Sarwar U Khan , UK Mr Monir Maria Mourin Nashad Moyukh Mohammad Towhidur Rahman Henrik Maihack Abdus Sabur Chowdhury Ahmed Toufiqur Rahman Anika T. Karim Ayesha Taasin Khan Dr. Nazneen Akhter Golam Mohiuddin Rumman Kazi Amdad Hoque Brigadier General Ali Ahmed Khan 1 Mahbubur Rahman Turza 2 3 Mohammad Enamul Haque Muhammed Shameem Reza Nicolas Depoorter Runa Khan Subrata Kumar Mandal Wasama Doja

Badruddoza Nizam Mohammad Alam Prof. Dr.-Ing. Saifullah Khandker Anna Westenberger Azfar Hassan Faruque Hassan Al Mudabbir Bin Anam Anneke Magendans

47 GIZ GIZ GIZ GIZ GIZ Global (BD) Nationwide Ltd. Global (BD) Nationwide Ltd. GERBER CHILDRENS WEAR LLC. GIZ Office Bangladesh GIZ GIZ GPH Ispat Limited Grameenphone Grameenphone Graphics Textiles Limited Green Delta Insurance CO. Ltd. GROUP QA

Dr. Karsten Schroeder Mr. Tim Pfannmueller Ms. Ottilie Mooshofer Ms. Tahera Yasmin Roland Panea A.K.M. Azad Mohannad Sayed MD. WALIUR RAHMAN Abul Khaer Mohammad Masud Muhibur Rahman Bettina Schmidt Mohammed Jahangir Alam Mr. Ayon Sabbir Alam Wahed ul Huq Khandkar Md. Mahabub Morshed Mr. Nasir A Choudhury Mohammad Imtiazur Rahman

H HAMS Garments Ltd. HAMS Garments Ltd. HAMS Garments Ltd. HAMS Garments Ltd. High Commission for Pakistan Holiday Fashion Hybrid Marketing Ltd.

Ehsanul Hoque Md. Shafiqur Rahman Mirza Golam Haidar Chowdhury Shaifur Rahman Chowdhury Ms.Farah Farooq Md Khorshed Alam Badrul Haque Chowdhury.

I Index Accessories Ltd. IndustriALL Bangladesh Council Inquisitive Chemistry Services INTERNATIONAL COMPLIANCE GROUP INC. Intertek Bangladesh Intertek Bangladesh Intertek Bangladesh Intertek Bangladesh Investment Corporation of Bangladesh

C.K. Dey. Chayan Z.M.Kamrul Anam Syed Atiqur Rahman MD. BODIUZZAMAN Dr. Karthik N.D. Habibur Rahman Mamun Zaman Neyamul Hasan Md. Fayekuzzaman

J Jamuna Bank Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi Jeans Manufacturing Co. Ltd. Jony Enterprise

A.K.M.Saifuddin Ahamed Hoimonti Barua Mr. Yameen rahim Nurul Islam

K KARIGAR Karmojibi Nari KiK Service Unit Dhaka KSK International Kuehne + Nagel Ltd.

Suman Kundu Babli Molla Meher Nawroz Sabera Ahmed Mr. Rafi Omar

L Li & Fung Bangladesh.

Li & Fung Bangladesh.

LINEWORK Lubricants Asia Ltd. Ludwig Pfeiffer, Hoch-und Tiefbau GmbH & Co KG Ludwig Pfeiffer, Hoch-und Tiefbau GmbH & Co KG

Mr.Christopher Young, Romesh Grover Md. Athir Rahman Bazlur Rahman Khan Mr. Olaf Rochotzki Mrs. Anna Huk

M M/S. Jony Enterprise Mabiya Ship Breakers Mabiya Ship Breakers

Kabir Hossain Faridul Alam Md Jahangir Alam

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MAKS Renewable Energy Company Ltd. MAKS Renewable Energy Company Ltd. MAKS Renewable Energy Company Ltd. Managing Director, Jamaluddin Textiles (Pvt.) Ltd., Zaheen Knitwears Ltd. Mecca Multilayer Ltd. Memminger-iro GmbH MGB Metro Group Buying HK Limited MGB Metro Group Buying HK Limited Mim ( A Frence Fashion Company) MIM INTERNATIONAL MIM INTERNATIONAL Multifabs Limited Multifabs Limited Multifabs Limited Multifabs Limited Monno Ceramic Industries Limited Monno Group of Industry

A.K.M. Azad Md. Ershadullah Nessar Maksud Khan M. Jamaluddin Haji Nazrul Islam Azad Rahman RenĂŠ Schlapp Sabbir Ahmed Rejaul Haque M H Nayan M. Jamal Mallick Md. Moinul Islam Bivuti Hira Md. Mizanur Rahman (Firoz) Md. Saiful Islam (Kawsar) Md. Golam Sarrowar Nesar U Ahmad

N nasir@nathanfashion.com Nasiruddin Ahmed Nathan Fashion Ltd Nasiruddin Ahmed Navana Interlinks Limited Mr. Golam Mawla Navana Interlinks Limited Prasanta Kumer Saha Navana Renewable Energy Ltd. Afsar Hossain New Age Nusrat Sharmeen Nisha Northern Tosrifa Group Alif Nadvi Rahman Northern Tosrifa Group Armanul Azim Northern Tosrifa Group Rafiq Hassan Norway- Bangladesh Business Matchmaking Program (BMMP), Royal Norwegian Embassy Sayeed M. Bayzid Novo Cargo Services Ltd. Syed Mostafizur Rahman O Optimum Solution and Services (OSS)

Ikramul H. Sohel

P Palal Group Ltd Palal Group Ltd Paramount Textile Ltd. Paramount Textile Ltd. Parasol Energy Ltd. Peoples Group PICARD BANGLADESH LTD PICARD BANGLADESH LTD PICARD BANGLADESH LTD PICARD BANGLADESH LTD PICARD BANGLADESH LTD. Prime Insurance Company Prince of India Prince of India Puma

Jhuna Chowdhury M. Atiar Zaman Mr. Saiful Azim Aber Mr. Sazzad Hossain Mr. Manzoor ELAHI Mr. Khandaker Ahsanuzzaman (Bishal) GHULUM MUSTAFA MD. HAFIJUL ISLAM MD. SAEEDUL ISLAM Reinhold Scheidler MD. SAIFUL ISLAM Ferdous Amin Iqbal Ahmed Choudhury Siraj Uddin Haider Tauhidul islam chowdhury

R Rainbow Holographics Ltd Rainbow Holographics Ltd. Rana Plaza Claims Administration, Dhaka Really Corporation Really Corporation Red point jackets Renaissance Consultants Ltd Renaissance Consultants Ltd Rosenberger Asia Pacific RSF International, Faruque Enterprise Rudolf Group

Haji Mohammad Ali Saddam Hossain Onik Dr Mojtaba Kazazi Mr.Tusher Ahmed Touhiduzzaman Sohel K M Abdullah Hil Baki Kanij Fatema Parveen S Huda Uddin Mohammad Kutub Reza Shah Faruque Soumitra Ganguly

49 S s.Oliver Overseas Ltd. s.Oliver Overseas Ltd. Sarah iInternational Sarah International Save the Children Save the Children Save the Children Save the Children SEBA LTD Seowan Bangladesh Ltd. SG logistics (Pvt) Limited.

SINHA FABRICS LTD. SINHA FABRICS LTD. Solidarity Center,Bangladesh Sourcing & Fashions Ltd. Sourcing & Fashions Ltd. Spectrum Lanka Technology Solutions Limited SQ Group SQ Group SR Asia Bangladesh Sun Fortune Limited Super Star Power Tech Ltd. Super Star Power Tech Ltd. Supreme Court of Bangladesh Swisscontact, Swiss Foundation for Technical Cooperation

Mohammad Abdullah Mr. Tazul Islam Kazi Moinuddin(Raj) Mahbubul Alam Abdul Mannan Jahirul Huq Md. Mostafijur Rahman Siddikur Rahman Iear Uddin Mohammad Aurangazeb Md. Golam Mawla Sujan Murtuza Karim Md. Arifur Rahman Tanveer Sinha Alonzo G. Suson Md.Afrahim Bhuiyan Mohammad Imtiaz Subrata Bhattacharjee Rayan Rahman Warisul Abid Sumaya Rashid Mahfuzur Rahman Md. Harun Ar Rashid Md. Hasanul Bari Tasnuva Shelley.

Mamunur Rahman

T Tchibo Bangladesh Liaison Office Tchibo Bangladesh Liaison Office Team Sourcing Company Ltd Tech Cloud Ltd Tech Cloud Ltd Tezarat Trade Corporation LTD. The Finery Ltd The Finery Ltd The Power Business Professionals TNA Apparels Ltd TUV Rheinland Bangladesh PVT. Ltd. TÜV SÜD Bangladesh (Pvt.) Ltd.

Mrs. Christine Schumacher Mrs. Marshia Talukder, Afsana Ferdousi Wormey Ahammed Bin Mannan Asik Asaduzzaman Asad MD. Sadaruddin Chandu Alauddin Al-Azad Dipak kumar Dey Md. Tarique Saifullah MR.Lutful Karim Raafi Md. Bodor Uddin Ezhilan Neelan

U United federation of garments workers Unnayan Shahayak Sangstha (USS) Urmi Group Urmi Group USAid AVC Project DAI UTAH Group UTAH Group Utsch Bangla Security Utsch Bangla Security

Roy Ramesh chandra Ajoy Biswas Mir Ashraful Hossain Mr. Asif Ashraf Anup Kumar Roy Mr. A. Razzak Sattar Mr. Syed Shamim Kadery Eng. Abdul Awal Md. Asaduzzaman

V VIYELLATEX LTD VIYELLATEX LTD.

QHM Shamshuzzaman Jubayad Ahmed

W Wellpac Polymers Ltd. World Cat Limited(Puma SE) Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production (WRAP)

Tariqul Hossain Mohammad Shameem ul Ahsan Avedis Seferian

Y Youngone Hi-Tech Sportswear Ind. Ltd. (YHT) & Savar Sportswear Company Limited (SSL)

Mohammad Abul Kashem

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Z Zaber & Zubair Fabrics Limited Zeeshan International Agency Pvt. Ltd. Zeeshan International Agency Pvt. Ltd.

Miscellaneous

Mr. Khairul Bashar Ahnaf Akeef Rafi Muntasir Munim Chowdhury Ashraful Haque Deepika Gupta Fatema Shahinur Jahan Khondaker Golam Moazzem Mahamud Faruque Mohammad Syful Islam Khan Mohammad Zakir Hossain Khan Mohammed SamiUllah Monjurul Hoque Mr. Matin Sarker Ms. Munira S.M. Khorshed Alam Sabiha Niger Dristy Selina Choudhury Sohel Rana Tipu Michael Rozario