Congratulates
for becoming the esteemed 600th member
CONTENTS
Editorial 3 Opening Remarks 4 BGCCI Events 6 Members of BGCCI 12 DBL Green Delta Life Insurance Co. Ltd. DHL-Global Forwarding Ltd. Person of Interest: Tobias Becker 16 Sustainable Competitiveness & Bangladesh 20 Special Interview: Sarwat Ahmad 24 Fire Safety: Interview of Md. Monjur Morshed 26 Essay: Behind the Paravent 28 Cover Focus 32 Global Social Responsibility Conference 2014: Overview and Profiles Feature: Colors from Chars 42 Painting for Joy 44 SR Asia Conference
Emerging Bangladesh Volume 2 Issue 3
46
Bangladesh German Chamber of Commerce &
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FROM THE EDITOR
“Yes, the planet got destroyed. But for a beautiful moment in time we created a lot of value for shareholders.”
The theme of the 3rd GSR Conference 2014 is “Shareholder Value VS Social Responsibility”. I personally consider this topic 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 couldn’t thrive after sometime. On the other hand, businesses 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 helps 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 benefited with the ideas shared from global thought-leaders and change makers. We believe 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 will help them realize about their potential and help them come up with proper solutions to problems they are already facing. That is why panels like RMG & Fire Safety, Leather Industry, Environment, Social Protection of Workers and TVET are very important in today’s context. 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 and keep enriching us with your valuable opinions.
“We believe 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.”
Thank you.
Daniel Seidl Executive Director {Emerging Bangladesh} bgcci.com
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OPENING REMARKS
Achieving Milestones By Sakhawat Abu Khair, BGCCI President
Bangladesh German Chamber of Commerce and Industry will achieve two milestones this year. First one is celebrating its 600 members. The chamber that started like many other chambers with a small number of members can now boast to be the biggest bilateral business chamber of the country. Over the period of its glorious journey, the chamber not only connected business and diplomacy successfully on many occasions but also brought businesses together. Making new members is that tough; but what demands a lot of effort is retaining those members. Hundreds of companies from Bangladesh, Germany and Europe have joined hands with this chamber as they believed it had something valuable to offer. Yes, besides providing very essential visa services and business matchmaking, we at the chamber have always wanted to add something extra to our offer basket. Something really precious that will not only benefit them today, but also for many days to come. This is where BGCCI's second milestone comes. Global Social Responsibility- these words are not just some mere business jargon. For a burgeoning and vibrant business community of Bangladesh, this is answer to many of their serious problems of today. As worldwide philanthropy and charity become widely popular, for corporations ensuring social responsibility can be tricky. Is it the same as charity? Or it is better or worse than charity? Many questions can pop up. Truth be told, misconceptions and manipulations can and has blurred the fine line that exists between charity and social responsibility. Which is
why it is important to understand the idea properly even before some company try to implement it in their businesses. BGCCI is working towards that goal to make the idea vastly understood in the business community with its Global Social Responsibility Conference 2014. This is the 3rd GSR Conference, which proves that businesses have welcomed and appreciated the initiative twice before. However, the journey is long and with each passing year, as we face new difficulties and challenges, we need to reconsider our ideas and learning and adjust it with the need of the present situation. What Ready-made garments sector has done for this country is simply amazing. The success story can be repeated with the leather and leather-goods sector. The latter, however, is already under international scrutiny for compliance and environmental safety issues. This is why we need to talk about these sectors where stringent regulations of environment and worker-friendly practices can strike gold. Therefore, this year's two most important panels are RMG and Fire Safety and Leather Industry. Other panels like Environment, Social Protection of Workers and Technical Educational Vocational Training are also very important to meet the challenge of better work place everywhere. BGCCI is thankful to its cooperation partner GIZ and Platinum Sponsor the Embassy of the Kingdom of Netherlands and Supporting sponsor TUV Rheinland for providing us with right kind of support, advice and expertise to make the conference a successful event.
BGCCI EVENTS
RMG Delegation Took Place in Stuttgart
The Foreign Trade Association of German Retail Trade, IHK, German Asia Pacific Business Association and Bangladesh-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry organized a seminar in Stuttgart on 22nd September to discuss about the Sustainable Management in textile and apparel industry in Bangladesh, Myanmar and Ethiopia. The BGCCI delegation included Hedayetullah Al Mamoon, Honorable Senior Secretary to the Commerce Ministry; Md. Atiqul Islam, BGMEA President and representatives from Robintex (Bangladesh) Ltd.; Karben Solar Energy Ltd.; Northern Tosrifa Ltd.; Sarah International; Giant
group; Posh Garments Ltd.; Spectrum Lanka technology Solutions Ltd.; Walton Hi-tech Industries Ltd.; Fairdeal Resources Ltd.; Lunar Eclipse International; Padma Bowling Ltd.; Really Corporation Ltd. The seminar was attended by the German exporters from these three countries. In the seminar, the retailers expressed their optimism that Bangladesh would continue to be a hotspot for garment sourcing for its price competitiveness and quality products. Furthermore, garment exports from Bangladesh would continue to grow and that too at a faster rate, as China, the world's largest apparel supplier. China at present is struggling to
retain its position owing to shortage of manpower and higher production costs. According to the speakers, Bangladesh will achieve the McKinsey & Company's predicted $44.56 billion garment export by the end of 2020. Currently, Ger many is the top destination of Bangladeshi garment products of the 28 European Union nations, with almost all of its major retailers that include Hugo Boss, Adidas, Olymp, KiK, s.Oliver and Gerry Webber now sourcing from Bangladesh. The country exported $4.38 billion of garment items to Germany in fiscal 2013-14, according to the Export Promotion Bureau.
In the picture: From Left: A. Rauf, Commercial Counsellor, Bangladesh Embassy in Germany; Dr. M. Brauch, Honorary Consul of Bangladesh in Baden Wuerttemberg; F. Siddiqui, Senior Vice President, BGCCI; H. Al Mamoon, Senior S e c r e t a r y, M i n i s t r y o f C o m m e r c e Bangladesh; P. Friedrich, Minister for Bundesrat, Europe and international Affairs, Germany; A. Islam, President, BGMEA; Daniel. Seidl, Executive Director, BGCCI.
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{Emerging Bangladesh} April - June 2014
BGCCI Sponsored German National Day 2014 The German Embassy in Bangladesh organized the celebration of the 24th Reunification Day of Germany on 21st October 2014. BGCCI was the sponsor of the event. The event was hosted by ChargĂŠ d'affaires Dr. Ferdinand von Weyhe of the German Embassy. Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh was the Chief Guest of the event. Distinguished diplomats, businessmen and media personnel also graced the event. Dr. Ferdinand felicitated all the guests at the august ceremony. he praised the vibrant private sector of Bangladesh and extended special thanks to BGCCI for sponsoring the event with the help of its Gold members. 18 Gold Member companies from BGCCI displayed their products at the venue. These are: Akij textile, Asrotex Ltd., BASF Bangladesh, DBL group, DHL Global Forwarding, Eastman Technocrafts Ltd., Electromart, E n e r g y p a c, G e r m a n U n i ve r s i t y Bangladesh, Giant Group, Green Carbon Ltd., Heidelberg Cement, Huntsman Singapore, Metro Knitting Ltd., Prime Insurance Ltd., Staedtler Ltd., Mercedes Benz, and Superstar Ltd. Among the German Institutions, namely GIZ, KFW, FES, FNS, Goethe Institut, DAAD participated with their respective booths. 08
{Emerging Bangladesh} April - June 2014
Dr. Fardinand von Weyhe, Charge d’Affaires of German Embassy with Honorable Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmud Ali in various pictures at the celebration event of German National Day 2014. Also, snippets of distinguished guests, BGCCI Gold Member stalls and Team BGCCI {Emerging Bangladesh} bgcci.com
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"You need to be a dreamer" advised Binod K. Chaudhary, the Billionaire from Nepal Pro Vice Chancellor of the Eastern University, Professor Abdul Hannan Chowdhury, Ph.D. invited Binod K. Chaudhary, Nepal's first Billionaire and Daniel Seidl, Executive Director of Bangladesh German Chamber of Commerce & lndustry (BGCCI) to speak about entrepreneurship and leadership at a seminar before the business students. ln his speech, the Chairman of Chaudhary Group explained why one has to be a dreamer and follow his or her heart. He mentioned that markets with a difficult environment provide huge opportunities. Emerging Markets like Bangladesh give you the chance to explore your ideas and add value to the customers. He advised the students to use that momentum today and go foruvard with their ideas. "The key to success is discipline," he added. Daniel Seidl from BGCCI said that Bangladesh is in a way a lot like Germany where 80% of enterprises are of small and medium sizes. According to him, what entrepreneurs need are: vision, passion, ability to make time appropriate decisions, learn from mistakes and transparency. Being an entrepreneur means to take responsibility and not just to make some quick money like a trader. The key is vocational training and empowering the midlevet management and not to hire mainly family members and friends," he added. When asked about his mantra of 10
success, Binod K. Chaudhary said, his success pyramid is based on five pillars, namely personal life, family life, social life, public and professional life. He also advised students not to procrastinate and to believe in themselves. Further he stated that, the idea of social business touched his heart and he was very happy that Professor Chowdhury is a great teacher in this field. Mohammad Enyaet Ullah, Chairman, Board of Trustees and Professor Dr. Abdur Rab, Vice Chancellor of the University shared with the students their valuable thoughts on time management. Professor Rab said, besides a good idea, an experienced team, financing and timing play decisive role for being successful. They invited Binod K. Chaudhary and Daniel Seidl to lecture at the university in future.
{Emerging Bangladesh} April - June 2014
MEMBERS
DBL won CPI2 Top Factory Award 2013-2014 for Excellence in Energy Efficiency
Jinnat Knitwears Ltd., a concern of DBL Group was the recipient of the prestigious Carbon Performance Improvement Initiative (CPI2) Top Factory Award 2013-2014 for excellence in reducing energy use and environmental impact. Jinnat Knitwears was honoured with the award for demonstrating excellent efforts in reducing energy consumption in its factory operations. The CPI2 project is an initiative by the German-based retailers supported by the German Federal Ministry of the Environment and the German Investment and Development Company (DEG). The nobility was performed by CPI2 high official, 12
Norbert Jungmichel who handed over the certificate and crest of the esteemed award to the Chairman/owners of DBL Group through a formal ceremony held at the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) complex in Dhaka on June 01, 2014. The Carbon Performance Improvement Initiative program was established in 2012 by 14 leading textile brands, retailers and sourcing agencies. It is dedicated to reduce the overall negative impact to the environment related to manufacturing of consumer goods and aims at becoming the leading environmental supply chain initiative by
{Emerging Bangladesh} April - June 2014
Cutting millions of tonnes of carbon emissions from the global supply chain. CPI2 Almost 500 factories from 18 countries worldwide currently avail the CPI2 web tool. The objective of CPI2, which has developed an action-driven and practical tool for factories, is to promote factories which improve their carbon performance. Areas Covered by the CPI2 Program include Electricity generation, Lighting, Electric motors, Compressed air, Process heat, HVAC, Tr a n s p o r t vehicles. In alignment to the framework set by CPI2, Jinnat Knitwears established a comprehensive programme based on the recommendations by CPI2 to cover all units of the factory, with measures including installation of LED's and servo-motors for sewing machines, a better compressed air system, and reduction in fuel consumption of its fleet of trucks. LED lights can save up to 85% energy compared to ordinary energy saving lights. The installation of 300 pcs of LED lights at Jinnat Knitwares Ltd. has resulted a saving of 43,200 kWh of electricity which is worth BDT 2,09,360 (approximately). Servo motors can save up to 40% energy than regular clutch motors. Installation of 200 pcs servo motor at Jinnat, saved 115,500 kWh of electricity which is equivalent to BDT 5,54,400. The company will soon be using servo motors for all sewing machines and replace the old clutch motors with new servo motors. Other implemented CPI2 recommendations include installation of 130 pcs of cogged V-belts as part of the maintenance routine, 600 pcs electric ballasts in capacitor and soft starters for at least 20% of all motors that are not equipped with a Variable Speed Drive (VSD) / inverter. Other routine functionalities are regular leakage detection, immediate repair and regular surveys. We have formed six policies regarding purchasing motor, energy saving, cogged belt, boiler, compressed air, purchase tube and new devices in order to save energy. After the execution of all these recommendations by CPI2, the factory benefited from an overall energy savings of 1,759,648 kWh which is worth BDT 84,46,310 in 2013 compared to previous year. Also the CO2 emission reduction was 1,372 tons in 2013 compared to previous year. At DBL Group we have a sub-contractor policy, in
addition to which we also share our knowledge and techniques on best environmental practices to improve energy use with our partners and subcontractors. Also while engaging with our new and existing sub-suppliers, we communicate our commitment to energy savings and encourage them to save comply with the best standards. Furthermore, company drivers are instructed to ensure optimum utilization of fuel and prevent unwanted fuel consumption by taking necessary measures while driving. The company has also introduced an incentive scheme to motivate employees to reduce energy use. The Environmental Management System (EMS) team at DBL Group constantly monitors the consumption of energy and water; production of waste; and carbon dioxide emission; which are the key environmental performance indicators. Through energy saving campaigns, they inform all the staffs about the company's commitment on energy saving. Leaflets were distributed as a reminder for all the staffs to turn off lights, fans, ACs and etc. when not required. The EMS and Sustainability team of DBL work side by side on several sustainability projects to reduce environmental footprints and implement best environmental practices in the company. Jinnat Knitwears has bagged the award due to its strong commitment to reduce its environmental impact from its business operations and perseverance in upholding the pledge. Jinnat Knitwears and its parent company DBL Group, strongly believe in balancing economic prosperity and social progress with care for the planet to ensure good quality of life for all. The management of the company is equally committed to integrate environmental matters as an integral part of its business strategy and is always to ready to go an extra mile to warrant environmental welfare. The group always works closely with the German Investment and Development Company (DEG) for investments in sustainable production. For the year 2014, Jinnat is following a similar comprehensive plan as the previous year and is working towards continuous improvement. Jinnat Knitwears Ltd will continue its pro-active engagement and offer innovative solutions in energy conservation in our daily operations to ensure a sustainable future by minimizing the increasing stress on the finite natural resources.
{Emerging Bangladesh} bgcci.com
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FEATURE
Green Delta Insurance Launches GD Health Green Delta Insurance Company Limited (GDIC), the only AAA rated non life insurance company of Bangladesh and Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council jointly organized a Launching ceremony and Networking Dinner at the capital recently. GD Health, the first ever comprehensive insurance scheme in Bangladesh offering Global Emergency Medical Evacuation Services targeting corporate, professionals and entrepreneurs has been launched by GDIC. GDIC also partnered with MHTC in promoting the Malaysia Healthcare Travel. Accordingly, GD Assist, a subsidiary of GDIC has partnered with some of the top hospitals in Malaysia to provide Malaysian healthcare services to the people of Bangladesh. Honorable Minister for Health and Family Welfare of People's Republic of Bangladesh, Mohhamed Nasim MP was the chief guest of the event. While the honorable State Minister of Finance of People's Republic of Bangladesh, M A Hannan MP, H.E Norlin Binti Othman, High Commissioner of Malaysia in Bangladesh, M Shefaque Ahmed, Actuary; Chairman of Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority and Mr. Nasir A Choudhury, President of BMCCI graced the occasion as special guests.
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Farzana Chowdhury, Managing Director and CEO of Green Delta Insurance who is also the Director of GD Assists spoke about the launching of the health insurance product 'GD Health' and on the joint collaboration of Green Delta and MHTC. She said, “We always pioneer innovative insurance product addressing the national issues and GD Health is no different from that. We are hopeful to give the best possible services to the people with our prompt claim settlement process and global emergency medical evacuation services.” Representing MHTC, Dolly Lim, Senior Manager in-charge said that “Malaysia certainly has what it takes to compete against the world's best in healthcare travel with our numerous medical offerings today. What's more, healthcare travel is under the Ministry of Health, Malaysia and we are regulated by several Acts to ensure that quality care is given at all times. Rich in its tourism offerings, patients can come to our country for a treatment and explore a family holiday too”. After launching GD Health, Rupali Chowdhury, Managing Director of Berger Paints was handed over a GD Health Policy as the first customer of the insurance scheme.
{Emerging Bangladesh} April - June 2014
MEMBERS
DGF BD Marked World Environment Day by planting over 800 Trees at SOS Children's Village Bangladesh
Country Manager Nooruddin Chowdhury (in the middle), Project Leader of SOS Children's Villages Bangladesh Saiful Islam (right after CM) and other officials were joined their hands with the volunteers.
Deutsche Post DHL has always served the community it resides in unique and interesting manners. This year DHL Global Forwarding Bangladesh celebrated World Environment Day 2014 by planting over 800 trees at SOS Children's Village in Dhaka Bangladesh. SOS Children's Village is an independent non-governmental social development organization. SOS takes action for children, keeping in consideration varying religion and culture of each child. The organization works in the spirit of UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and promotes these rights around the world. They have also pioneered a family approach to the long-term care of orphaned and abandoned children with the SOS Children's Village concept, which provides each child with a Mother, a family, a home and a community. On the occasion of World Environment Day 2014, DHL Global Forwarding Bangladesh has tied up with SOS Children's Villages in Bangladesh in light of its corporate social responsibilities. Under the Go Green platform DHL Global Forwarding Bangladesh arranged a tree plantation program. Along with the Country Manager Mr. Nooruddin Chowdhury several employees participated in this initiative. Afterwards, children were treated to celebrate their contribution towards making this earth a greener place. The Project Director of SOS Children's Villages Bangladesh Mr. Saiful Islam thanked DHL Global Forwarding Bangladesh for extending wholehearted support. The Country Manager of DHL Global Forwarding Bangladesh Mr. Nooruddin mentioned that “we will be looking forward to continuation of this plantation campaign in the near future and SOS expects to be a vital part of our “living responsibility” initiative. {Emerging Bangladesh} bgcci.com
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Person of Interest
Q
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“
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GIZ helps policy-makers to translate their objectives into practice to make change work. -Tobias Becker Country Director, GIZ
Trade for Aid and vice versa is a concept becoming popular than ever before as donors and policy makers from home and abroad are more willing to work closely with private sector for the betterment of the world economy. What is your take on that? Deutsche Gesellschaft fĂźr Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH acts in the interests of the Federal Republic of Germany and supports to consolidate their commitment to the Trade for Aid Initiative. GIZ's Trade Programme provides advisory services to the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) to represent development issues in international trade negotiations as well as design and disseminate innovative tools for trade-related assistance in German development cooperation. At the national policy level, GIZ supports governments and other stakeholders to develop capacity to negotiate and implement trade agreements. It promotes growth through trade by building the capacity of the private sector to boost exports. The main goal is to help partner countries successfully integrate themselves into the global economic system and regional economic communities, diversify their economies, and boost exports and foreign direct investment. This is, in turn, expected to reduce poverty and result in sustainable development. Through the BMZ's develoPPP.de initiative, GIZ also devises solutions that work for German and European companies and their subsidiaries in developing countries and emerging economies. These companies might be seeking to make long-term investments in emerging countries like Bangladesh. The support can take the form of providing training for local employees, promoting the use of environment-friendly technologies or improving social standards at production facilities. Interested companies can apply through the develoPPP.de website four times a year. Application forms are currently available for the next phase, which runs from 15 November 31 December 2014. {Emerging Bangladesh} April - June 2014
GIZ is very active in the development sector of Bangladesh through various projects. Would you like to give us a brief about some of the successful ventures that helped Bangladesh obtain excellent results in respective fields? For more than 42 years, GIZ Bangladesh has been devising solutions that work with our commissioning parties and partners. We also help policy-makers to translate their objectives into practice to make change work. Currently, on behalf of BMZ, we are working in the priority areas of renewable energies and energy efficiency; good governance, rule of law and human rights; and adaptation to climate change in urban areas. We also work in the areas of health, biodiversity and disaster risk management. Some recent highlights of our activities include 路GIZ has been working with national partners since 2010 to improve fire safety and working conditions in 650 textile factories. While many improvements have been made, there is still a lot to be done. In my view, the amended national labour law will bring more positive changes. The problem is having an insufficient number of trained labour inspectors, who play a crucial role within the labour inspection system to ensure that factories comply with labour laws. GIZ has worked in close cooperation with the International Labour Organization (ILO) and key stakeholders of the Ready-Made Garments (RMG) sector and the number of inspectors has grown from 20 in 2010 to 289 in 2014. Till 6 November 2014, GIZ, partly in cooperation with ILO, has trained 74 government labour inspectors from the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments, under the Ministry of Labour and Employment (MoLE), on conducting comprehensive inspections. The rest of the 215 labour inspectors will also be trained by the end of 2014. 路
{Emerging Bangladesh} bgcci.com
GIZ is supporting the implementation of the Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan, the Government of Bangladesh's (GoB) approach to tackling climate change. In 2009, GIZ started to address the adverse 17
2 million+ Number of Improved Cooking Stoves or Bondhu Chulas that with GIZ's support, Bangladeshi partners have been able to provide to communities.
650 Number of textile factories where GIZ has been working with national partners since 2010 to improve fire safety and working conditions.
74 Number of Government labour inspectors received training from GIZ, partly in cooperation with ILO till 6 November 2014. The inspectors were from the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments, under the Ministry of Labour and Employment (MoLE), on conducting comprehensive inspections.
BDT 200/Month Amount of money saved by a family by using solar systems provided by GIZ in a remote upazilla called Dacope where no electricity will be available in any time soon 18
impacts of natural disasters and climate change and through our work we have built resilient communities. This means that there is a strong focus on climate change adaptation in agriculture, rehabilitation of livelihoods and means of production of vulnerable populations. Take for example Aditi, who lost her husband and most of their property in cyclone Aila. Her husband was the main bread earner for this family of seven and upon his death, the young widow and her five daughters were left destitute. Aditi benefitted from the livelihood support programme implemented by GIZ with our partners, where she was given training on vegetable cultivation. One of the things she learnt was how to create natural compost instead of using expensive chemical fertiliser. Aditi is now a successful farmer who is sending her daughters to school and has hopes for a bright future. 路
With GIZ's support, Bangladeshi partners have been able to provide over two million Improved Cooking Stoves or Bondhu Chulas to communities. This means two million families are using less wood and other biomass for cooking, saving up to 50% money and living a healthier life, as these stoves do not produce hazardous smoke. Each month, 50,000 additional stoves are expected to be installed all over Bangladesh.
You have worked in several countries in projects associated with renewable energy and energy efficiency. It is almost no news that Bangladesh, with a view to promoting more trade and industrialization needs huge energy supply and to ensure efficient energy distribution. Would you like to share your wisdom and experience in this regard? For Bangladesh, which suffers from frequent power outages due to energy shortage, exploring alternative energy sources, promoting the use of renewable energy and efficient use of energy are all very important. This has to be done by building markets for sustainable energy solutions through improving the capacity of relevant stakeholders and promoting the application of energy efficient technologies and technologies for the generation of renewable energy. Solar home systems can be a viable alternative for Bangladesh and the GoB needs to support these initiatives by providing or improving access to financing. Private companies also have to use and invest in technologies that will make them more energy efficient. Since 2003, GIZ has been supporting national agencies to install solar home systems and till date we have supported the installation of over 420,000 solar home systems. In Dacope, a remote upazila in the Khulna district, where no electricity grid will be built in the next 20 years, I met a woman named Afroza. She told me that her family was able to buy a solar home system after it was subsidised with the support of GIZ. As a result, her
{Emerging Bangladesh} April - June 2014
“ In future, GIZ and BGCCI might also collaborate on strengthening the capacity of the private sector to adapt to climate change and reduce risk from sudden extreme weather events and/or changes in climate conditions.
“
family saves around BDT 200 per month on energy costs and after 3-5 years they will pay off the total cost of the system. The small 20-watt system is powering two light bulbs in her kitchen and one in her room. After installing the system, both her sons have enough light to study at night. Afroza can also do housework after sunset and does not have to worry about rising kerosene prices or investing in lead batteries. BGCCI is working closely with GIZ in projects like social and environmental compliance for RMG factories. How can we strengthen the relationship? Would you like to suggest any new avenue of cooperation that both the organizations can explore? GIZ implements the CIM-AHK programme on behalf of BMZ. This programme places integrated experts in areas such as energy consulting, technology transfer and vocational education from the Centre for International Migration and Development (CIM) in German Chambers of Commerce (AHKs). In the case of Bangladesh, amongst others, we have placed a German integrated expert at the BGCCI. Mr Daniel Seidl is the Executive Director of BGCCI and advises its members on partnership opportunities with German companies like GIZ. Another programme, the CIM programme, is jointly run by GIZ and the International Placement Services (ZAV) of the German Federal Employment Agency. Among other things, CIM gives experts and managers from Germany and other European countries the opportunity to work in a development-related post with employers in developing countries and emerging economies involved in international cooperation with Germany. In Bangladesh, CIM has placed such integrated experts at the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Christoffel-Blindenmission (CBM) and Clean Energy Alternatives (CEA). Apart from its work for the German government, GIZ also works with other clients, like international organisations or the private sector, on areas such as vocational training, social responsibility, energy and climate. In Bangladesh, GIZ is currently engaged by a German company to help them adopt socially and environmentally responsible business practices and GIZ will also be happy to support members of BGCCI in the above mentioned areas. This support involves drafting the concept note through to project implementation and final financial settlement and evaluation. In future, GIZ and BGCCI might also collaborate on strengthening the capacity of the private sector to adapt to climate change and reduce risk from sudden extreme weather events and/or changes in climate conditions. Private companies interested in working with GIZ can contact us directly or through BGCCI. Staring with 60 members in 2009, BGCCI is going to celebrate its 600 members event soon. What's your wish for BGCCI on this eve? Firstly, I would like to congratulate BGCCI, the biggest bilateral business chamber in Bangladesh, and its staff on reaching this milestone. It is a testament to the commendable work they are doing to promote trade between Germany, Bangladesh and the rest of Europe. The future looks bright for them and hopefully, in the next couple of years, they will be able to operate independently as an internationally accredited organisation. {Emerging Bangladesh} bgcci.com
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FEATURE
SUSTAINABLE COMPETITIVENESS AND BANGLADESH According to a report published by the World Economic Forum, nations around the world are adapting more and more sustainable measures in pursuits of a greener tomorrow. Where does Bangladesh stand in the race? By Isha Shahmina Mannan
The global dynamics and concerns have been changing as we move into a more exciting threshold of the 21st century. In the year 2000, as part of the global development agenda, the Millennium Development Goals were adopted to address the extreme form of inequalities in existence in the form of standard of living and economic emancipation between the developed and the developing nations. After nearly fifteen years of the MDG oriented strategies, it is definitely the time for rethink. The UN developed the post 2015 agenda, termed as the sustainable development agenda commonly referred to as the SDGs to counter the new set of challenges and further build on the successes of the MDGs. The issue of sustainability, sustainable growth and sustainable competitiveness gained increased prominence fueled by the global economic recession 22
that has had devastating impact on the developed countries and to a certain extent on the developing countries including Bangladesh. Economic growth and as its side effect development was the trend although its sustainability is now being questioned. The concepts of inclusive growth and environmental sustainability are increasingly under discussion in the policy platform, among the industries, businesses and citizens of the society. The Gobal Competitive Index took due measure of the sustainable factors by including social sustainability indicators that assessed access to basic necessities, vulnerability to socioeconomic exclusion and social cohesion and environmental indicators which included analysing environmental policy, use of renewable and non-renewable resources and environmental degradation. Comparative Profile of Sustainable Competitiveness According to the Global Competitiveness Report 2014-2015, Switzerland is in the leading positive with the highest score of 6.8 in terms of sustainable competitiveness with good governance, high social protection and mobility and diligent environmental stewardship. Germany scoring 6.18 is also one of the higher ranked developed countries with positive sustainable standing owing to high investment in research and development, widespread access to healthcare, presence of a social safety net and well enforced environmental regulations. However growing concerns of relative poverty needs to be taken care of. The United States of America scored 5.61 also has good standing in terms of sustainability although its position is much lower than the other developed countries due to high levels of income inequality and reluctance in joining international environmental treaties. In Asia, Japan scoring 6.06 is in the lead with positive and progressive sustainable development efforts. On the other hand, China continues to endure low sustainable competitiveness due to environmental pollution, high inequality and a welfare system only available to the urban population. India's competitiveness with a score of 3.85 is low due to social factors such as uneven access to sanitation, high rates of vulnerable employment and depleting natural resources despite social and environmental policies and regulations in place. In comparison Sri Lanka has a better standing with a higher score of 4.28 outperforming countries like Turkey, Colombia, Mexico and South Africa. Overall there appears to be a positive correlation between the sustainable competitiveness and prosperity of a nation. Bangladesh Perspective In terms of sustainable competitiveness, Bangladesh ranks lower in comparison to its South Asian neighbours with a score of 3.5 despite positive social indicators and progress in attaining the MDG targets. However it requires a mention that although some countries like Mongolia and Dominican
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Defining Sustainable Competitiveness In order to achieve progress, in the context of current trends and resource capability taking consideration of new technologies, geopolitics and ecological realities, stringent balance should be maintained in terms of economy, environment and society. Sustainability competitiveness is governed by (1) social and environment-friendly trade and investment practices that will facilitate productivity as well augment longer
Republic rank higher than Bangladesh in terms of overall competitiveness (98th and 101th position respectively) but in terms of sustainable competitiveness Bangladesh displays a better performance with a higher score than either of the countries. Without doubt, Bangladesh's economy has made impressive strides in terms of digitalisation and socioeconomic development. Rural development has delivered concrete results due to increased tele-density and introduction of mobile banking. Investment in social infrastructure and education is increasing. Awareness of environment related concerns, waste management, tacking air and water pollution, access to basic necessities and human development indicators are much better in comparison to South Asian nations like Nepal and Myanmar. Setup of solar power plants and research into bio-fuel are also positive developments in the recent years. Bangladesh Climate Change Resilience Fund has been established and to tackle pollution, introduction of eco tax is also being considered. It should also be known that Bangladesh has been committed towards the adopted resolutions at United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development held in Rio de Janeiro held in 2012 Rio+20. Nevertheless it is in these areas of developments that the challenges exist that are stunting the position of Bangladesh in sustainable competitiveness. The progress is much below the collective potential. Drawing examples from the sustainably developed countries, Bangladesh needs to proactively address the issues related to social vulnerability, access to basic necessities for the marginalised and climate change migrants, malnutrition, wider access to health care, good governance practices from the grass root level, seasonal unemployment and underemployment, environment conservation, environmental pollution and better management of the natural resources. Perhaps the most important and concrete advancement to address the issue of sustainability has been the formulation and finalization of the National Sustainable Development
term growth prospects for the future generations, (2) efficient management of resources through environmental conservation and protection of wildlife and natural resources and (3) practicing social justice and social inclusiveness through participation, equal opportunity, ensuring security and representation of rights of the people from all spheres of the society.
Strategy (NSDS) 2010-21. The strategy identifies 5 strategic areas which comprise of Sustained Economic Growth, Urban Development, Social Security and Protection, Development of priority areas (including agriculture, rural economy, energy, human resource development), Environment, Natural Resource and Disaster Management taking stock of gender equality, disaster risk reduction and good governance. The institution setup included a Sustainable Development Monitoring Council consisting of Ministries, Public Agencies, Private Sector, NGOs and member of the civil society. To effectively place the NSDS in action and improve Bangladesh's sustainable competitiveness, awareness is first and foremost necessary. The government along with the private sector, international development partners and the civil society should jointly transform the strategy into actionable targets and implement accordingly. Monitoring and evaluation framework of the sustainability indicators should be formulated through stakeholder consultations. Research into environmental friendly technologies should be prioritised and incentives should be given to promote responsible business practices. Sustainable standards need to be introduced. Social and green investment by the industries and business institutions should be made mandatory. Although this may increase the cost in the short run it would enhance the long term competitiveness of the institutions. Investing in value chain linkages that create better jobs, promote gender diversity and contributes to green economy should also be a priority. It should be kept in mind that growth should not come with irreversible social and environmental costs. Sustainable competitiveness for Bangladesh is only necessary for inclusive growth but important for Bangladesh's position in the global market since it is likely have a considerable impact on our international trade especially exports and investment prospects. To maximize the opportunities of the global integration and prevalent trends, there is no better time than now to build on the sustainable competitiveness capture the immense potentialities. Here is to a prosperous and progressive Bangladesh. The author is the Asst. Secretary (Research) in FBCCI
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SPECIAL INTERVIEW
After its tremendous success last year, the Social and Environmental Excellence (SEE) Award is back for the second time, thanks to the Promotion of Social and Environmental Standards in the Industry (PSES) program implemented by GIZ. In this regards, this interview provides perspectives from Ms. Sarwat Ahmad, Senior Advisor, PSES, on the upcoming event. As a Team Leader of the program’s Trade Promotion component, Ms. Ahmad facilitated diversification of the Readymade Garments Market of Bangladesh beyond the traditional export markets of the USA and the EU. She helped to expand the horizon to new markets like Japan, Hong Kong, South Africa, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, and Russia. The program lobbied with different government and private sector stakeholders of the new markets to gain favorable tariff policies.
When you first started planning to organize the SEE Award, what were your thoughts? Why did you feel a need for the Award? Over the last few decades, Bangladesh has witnessed a remarkable economic growth, becoming the second largest exporter of readymade garments in the world by volume and value. This sector creates employment opportunities for millions of unskilled and poor people, especially women, who comprise a large part of the Bangladeshi youth population. However, in the recent years, the RMG sector's growth has been accompanied by devastating incidents that has impacted the industry's competitiveness as a whole. Recognizing the growing need to promote industrial compliance in the sector, GIZ PSES initiated the Social and Environmental Excellence (SEE) Award in 2012 to highlight and recognize best practices from the RMG industry in the field of social and e n v i r o n m e n t a l s t a n d a r d s, a n d encourage industrial trendsetters in the
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Setting the Benchmark
field of compliance, for others to follow. What sets the Award apart from other similar initiatives in the industry? The SEE Award is a one of a kind award in Bangladesh that specifically addresses industrial compliance. The Award also targets stakeholders from one of the crucial back-bones of the export sector in Bangladesh i.e. the ready-made garments sector. So, what steps have you been taking to attract diverse participants for the award? When we started off the Award in 2012, it was targeting nomination mainly from participants at the management level of the factories. This year, we have complemented the award, by also including participation directly from the workers at the heart of the industry through our Idea Club. Award recognition usually tends to attract more participation from big names in the industry. To circumvent, we have included new award categories
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s u ch a s Wo m e n ' s E m p o w e r m e n t (Advancement of Female Workers in Management Position). This year, we have also introduced Inclusive Skills Development, to attract factories excelling in including Persons with Disabilities (PwD) in the main stream workforce to be recognised. We have aspired to reach out to a wider spectrum of factories through mass media advertisements in popular dailies, as well as through a partner trading corporation. In addition, we have tried to engage the workers further, through Women Cafes, facilitated by our partner NGOs, which are a safe-hub for garment workers to meet and share their issues. Were you surprised by the results? Yes, I was very surprised by the results. But it was a pleasant surprise! Last year, 38 factories submitted nominations for the Award and this year we attracted nominations from 83 factories. And we also succeeded in reaching our new target this year, i.e. majority of the
nominations came from mid-sized factories. Similarly, another surprise lay on the ground for us, when on the count of submissions, we succeeded to receive a big 675 number of entry forms from workers, in the category of Idea Club ( Wo r k e r s ' I d e a f o r F a c t o r y Improvement). I was also very glad to receive encouraging entries from the sector, in terms of factories employing persons with disabilities into their mainstream workforce. How have the jury reacted to the nominations? The jury was an interesting mix of different types of stakeholders, starting from representatives from the government, employers' associations, to the civil society, as well as technical experts. As such, they have engaged in fruitful debates from their varying perspectives, taking an overall positive outlook on the short-listed nominations.
It is noteworthy to mention here though, that the names of the shortlisted nominees were coded and kept anonymous through-out the jury session. What impact do you foresee in the near future for the upcoming winners? Like any award, ofcourse, first of all recognition is motivation. Motivation, that is not only for the winners to continue their best practices, but for others to follow. It also gives the factories as well as the industry as a whole, the added value to attract a better international image, and clients to follow along with it. Has this Award created any awareness in the industry? We have seen some mention worthy ripples in the industry. For example, during the last Award in 2012, one of the best practices awarded in the category of Innovative Initiatives for the Improvement of Working and Living {Emerging Bangladesh} bgcci.com
Conditions was the Aboni Knitwear Ltd. factory of Babylon Group. Their initiative was to provide sanitary napkins to their female workforce at a subsidized cost. Over the last two years, we have already seen a number of new factories that have sprung up with a similar initiative for their female workers, following into their footsteps. Do you feel that this Award will lead change in the RMG industry? The McKinsey report forecasts that Bangladesh's garments export will triple by 2020. But in order for that to happen, the sector will have to increasingly uphold industrial compliance in terms of social and environmental standards. I hope that the Award will encourage even more promising factories to follow and take up on these best practices showcased through our Award. A specially promising point of entry would be for more factories to start employing a more inclusive workforce, employing persons with disabilities as part of their mainstream workforce. 25
FIRE SAFETY
Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies estimates that 431 workers have died in 14 major fire incidents from 1990 to 2012. The devastating fire incident that took place in Tazreen Fashions Ltd. in Ashulia on 24th November 2012, have further raised global concerns regarding safety of garments factories, majority of which export garments to the USA and Europe. In this regards, this interview provides perspectives from Md. Manjur Morshed, Head of Social Standards component of the program “Promotion of Social and Environmental Standards in the Industry (PSES),” implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The interview particularly focuses on a Mini Fire Brigade (Rapid Response Unit) that PSES would be facilitating to set up under a public private partnership program with the Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defense (BFSCD) and the DBL Group.
How has the fire at Tazreen Fashions changed the industrial perspective in Bangladesh? More than 100 people have lost their lives in the fire at Tazreen Fashions Ltd., one of the deadliest fires in the ReadyMade Garments (RMG) industry of Bangladesh. This was a sad incident that shocked the nation. The fire led to the formation of a unified proactive stance from all stakeholders for higher fire safety standards in the workplace. This was reminiscent of the devastating Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire in New York that killed 146 workers, about a hundred years ago, which led to the legislation in the US requiring improved factory safety standards. Since the Tazreen fire incident, the government of Bangladesh, BGMEA, BKMEA, international brands, NGOs, tra d e un i o n s, etc. h ave m a d e commitments to prevent any more incidents like the Tazreen fire. The Tazreen fire incident, coupled with the Rana Plaza building collapse, has been a wake-up call for a deep, fundamental change in the apparel sector of Bangladesh. In response to that call for change, there has been 26
ongoing transformation in the industry to make it more responsible and sustainable, where workers can be ensured a safe workplace. As such, we have seen initiatives such as formulation of the National Tripartite Action Plan on Fire Safety and Structural Integrity for the Ready-Made Garment Sector in Bangladesh, set up of the Accord on Fire and Building Safety, and Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, among others, to respond to the growing need for workers' safety in the industry. The amendment in the Bangladesh Labour Act 2013 has further emphasized workers' safety as a whole. What has GIZ done so far in regards to addressing fire safety in the industry? A number of initiatives have been taken by GIZ for addressing the problem of industrial fire safety in the garments sector, with a strategic focus on capacity development of the stakeholders. Monitors from the employers' associations of BGMEA and BKMEA were trained through PSES, who in turn provided training to around 25,000 {Emerging Bangladesh} April - June 2014
Securing the Future workers and supervisors on fire safety. Besides, trade union leaders were also trained on fire safety in cooperation with the International Labour Organization (ILO). Further, a C3 fire safety training manual has been developed with the participation of fire safety professionals from BFSCD, BGMEA, BKMEA and experienced C3 trainers. Moreover, a study tour comprising of training on “Fire Safety and Civil Protection” was organized in Germany for a delegation of 25 officials from Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defence (BFSCD), Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief, BGMEA and BKMEA in 2013. The objective of this tour was to learn more about the way fire prevention and safety measures are implemented in Germany and what innovative solution the private sector can offer for an integrated fire prevention and safety concept. Establishment of a Mini Fire Brigade (rapid response unit) is under process. The Mini Fire Brigade is being set up to reach out to locations at high risk, especially for factories with narrow access roads, located far away from fire stations. In the current context,
establishment of a Mini Fire Brigade is highly important. Why is Mini Fire Brigade so important? How does it work? It is worth mentioning that the Fire Service and Civil Defence is the only state-run department in the country that deals with fire and other disasters, natural or otherwise. They have insufficient manpower and do not have sufficient number of fire stations to successfully tackle big fire incidents. Another major challenge for the fire service department is that the location of existing factories does not provide clear access routes for them to reach in time for an emergency. The roads in most cases are also too narrow and inaccessible. The recent fire incident at the Aswad Composite Mills Limited in Chandra, Gazipur, is an example where fire fighters took more than an hour to reach the site, from the nearest fire station more than 30 kilometres away because of narrow roads leading to the factory. Given the context, it would be an effective initiative to set up a Mini Fire Brigade as an auxiliary force to the existing Fire Service and Civil Defence. The objective of establishing such a Mini Fire Brigade would be to respond to both industrial fire and building collapses, to keep fire under control and hold fort until additional firefighting units can make it to the place of
incident. As an independent tactical unit, it would be able to respond professionally within the critical first 10 15 minutes after the fire has been detected or the building collapse has occurred within a radius of one kilometre area. How can the Mini Fire Brigade be established? The proposed Mini Fire Brigade will be funded and operated under a Public Private Partnership (PPP) program. This PPP program will be facilitated by the Global Initiative on Disaster Risk Management (GIDRM) which is being coordinated by GIZ. The DBL Group, one of the largest ready-made garment industries in Bangladesh, will act as the private sector partner while Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defence (BFSCD) under the Ministry of Home Affairs will act as the local public partner for the project. GIZ will provide the technical cooperation for the pilot project. The DBL Group will provide the land, infrastructure and operational costs of the Mini Fire Brigade. On the other hand, Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defence will provide full-time fire fighters. They will also train the community volunteers and in-house fire safety teams of the factories. Lastly, GIZ will provide vehicle and equipment support, which will be handed over to BFSCD. The Mini Fire Brigade project will be {Emerging Bangladesh} bgcci.com
piloted at Kashimpur Road, Sreepur, Gazipur, and then it could be up-scaled in other industrial zones in the country, based on learnings and experience. What other effective improvements can be achieved in regards to fire safety? A c t u a l l y, w e c a n n o t e x p e c t improvements to happen overnight. But, it is never too late to start. There is no alternative to working together if we want to ensure workplace fire safety. Therefore, factory owners, buyers, trade unions, owners' associations and the government have to work hand in hand in this regard. Moreover, a sound macro level fire safety action plan should address issues such as proper infrastructural support in industrial zones of Dhaka, Gazipur, and Chittagong to begin with. Management of each factory has to take a major portion of the responsibility to address this issue. Having a preventive fire safety procedure is the first step. Arranging sufficient number of exits along with an informed workforce during emergencies is equally important. Finally, we should keep in mind that better coordination and concerted efforts among all the stakeholders can save lives and contribute in ensuring sustainable improvements in the industry. 27
ESSAY
Behind the Paravent “You have to learn how to speak like a politician when you are speaking to people. Twenty or thirty years ago you were just a guy who made Eggs Benedict.” By Joachim Juette-Overmeyer I was stumbling over this statement of a restaurant owner in an article in the New York Times regarding some new US state laws legalizing the carrying of concealed guns in public. Restaurant owners, who are questioning why someone has to carry a gun while having a cheeseburger, put up signs to prevent people with guns from entering. This put them right into the middle of a political debate with their customers to discover that politics can sometimes matter more than the products they serve and can have serious business implications today. You may ask what all this has to do with doing business in Bangladesh? Well, if you are willing to abstract from the Eggs Benedict for a moment, it clearly documents a trend, especially in the western world about what international business has to cope with. Business has become subject to a lot of challenging demands from different stakeholders for political, environmental and ethical correct commercial conduct. Therefore, business has to increasingly take a political and social stand and sometimes finds itself confronted with contraire demands from different stakeholders. Today companies face a massive shift of power to the consumer. By the massive increase of internet based density of possible individual connections, growing spontaneous individual activity via social media and accelerating circles of emotional enragement this can lead to a massive blow-out with a potential to seriously hurt, even big companies. Critical stakeholders today successfully use these effects to push their agendas. But what is behind this screen for socially correct and compliant conduct? I have followed this development in respect to the garment industry from inside since the beginning of the 90s. The western fashion industry, being one of the first industries 28
going global, consequently became also one of the first industries to be confronted with the awakening civil society and their ethical and ecological demands for proper behavior and socially responsible conduct. From then onwards the products were no longer just subject to “hard” market parameter, such as styles, price, quality and fashion but increasingly adopted a lot of additional “soft” criteria in respect to political, environmental and ethical correctness. In the last years, a growing number of social stakeholders demand transparency about a company's position and performance regarding a lot of socially and politically related issues. Business is expected to serve the society as a whole and not solely the interests of its financially owner. Brands, which are sourcing internationally, therefore pass these expectations on to their business partners in the sourcing countries. Especially the RMG Industry, which is often one of the core industries in developing countries in Asia, is confronted with demands about its social and environmental performance. The ethical and environmental home standards to be met are the same as those expected by consumers in the US and EU home markets which do not except double standards. In doing so, industries that supply globally, abstract themselves commercially more and more from their domestic social and political environment and become subject to the high standards and expectations as well as political agendas of the global markets of their customers. However, that might conflict with the local rule of law, traditional business conduct, existing infrastructure and social and cultural habits in the supply markets. Even though most of these requirements are deriving from internationally agreed treaties and conventions and might therefore already be part of the domestic legal regime, the pace and efficiency in which these rules are expected to be executed often goes beyond the individual ability and
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Entrepreneurs today have to juggle with cultural, political, legal, technical and social requirements and expectations from all kind of global parties. Even though, if handled well and with pragmatism, this is generally a positive development, it nevertheless raises some principal question. sometimes also acceptance to do so. The topics in question cover on the one hand social and humane conditions in production, such as the safeguarding of human rights and workers' rights in the supply chains and the prevention of child labor, furthermore on the other hand environmental topics, such as critical chemicals in products and ways to avoid them or sustainable use of natural resources (water, air, ground) or treatment of animals, ... just to name a few prominent examples. Even though such topics are still not paramount criteria for western fashion consumers, the brands are nevertheless under constant pressure by stakeholders and media to take a responsible position regarding these topics. Effective and on the spot action and respective transparency is expected. In a globalized world international companies are asked to take full moral responsibility for everything happening in their entire global supply chain. Furthermore, there are increasing political demands to hold companies not only morally responsible but assign direct legal responsibility, including the obligation to remedy damages The horrible tragedy of Rana Plaza has accelerated this development. Today, this concerns not only the big brands but also SMEs sourcing in the same markets. It's almost like they are expected to have a political, cultural and ethical strategist on board when they put together their marketing and sourcing plan. This is quite a challenge, especially for smaller companies. Doing your business and producing or selling good quality products is no longer good enough to be able to have success in the market. Turning a blind eye to aforementioned topics can have serious business implications because social and ethical correctness may matter more than the product which is delivered. Entrepreneurs today have to juggle with cultural, political, legal, technical and social requirements and expectations from all kind of global parties. Even though, if handled well and with pragmatism, this is generally a positive development, it nevertheless raises some principal question.
Trying to comply with all these requirements and expectations has for some years already been reality for international fashion brands performing their individual auditing and compliance measures. Nevertheless, it found its new climax in the joined approach of about 180 brands sourcing in Bangladesh, actively implementing fire, electrical and structural safety standards for textile production, closely watched and followed by international unions and NGOs. After Rana Plaza it is carried by a broad consensus of all parties involved to make a substantial difference and set a turning point. Even governments play a role but are not the main driving factor behind this. Maybe we see the first step how global business is going to function in future, embedded in requirements for social and safety compliance and political and ethical correctness, watched closely by a variety of stakeholders including governments. So, as Lorenz Berzau from BSCI put it clearly in the last issue of Emerging Bangladesh, “it is far more than compliance or a matter of following a mainstream topic but a question of survival in a global market�. Although this development is principally necessary and positive and assigns responsibility to those who prosper from human and natural resources, nevertheless some basic questions remain. What makes companies, who have in fact no democratic competence and mainly follow singular private interests, authorized to implement social and ethical standards, labor laws, international regulations and compliance rules in their sourcing countries? What makes them experts on complex human and social development when they are actually experts on trade? Do they know what effects their actions in one industry may have for the society or the economy as a whole? It took international development assistance centuries of experience to learn about the negative effects their well minded aid sometimes had. Who bears the consequences if the companies' approach turns out to be wrong? Even though it is out of question that some requirements, like human rights or health and safety standards are world-wide valid, others are sometimes ideologically and politically
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According to the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, it must act with due diligence to avoid infringing on the rights of others and to address negative impacts with which they are involved. Companies have the power to affect virtually all of the internationally recognized rights and can offer support and expertise on a mutual basis with all other parties. motivated and reflect the individual views and interests of a multitude of stakeholders. Is there a clear uniform agenda or does each company follow its own approach? Do those who are at the receiving end to all these measures have an active saying in this or do they only have to comply? In my eyes business has a substantial role to play but it will have to be in a way that reflects their role, competence and motivation. In fact business has no democratic legitimacy. Business can neither compensate for missing government responsibilities and functioning structures nor can it play the role as a bailiff of international law or third parties by using the vehicle of private law. In first place, international law is addressed to governments and it is their responsibility to implement and execute it, in order to protect against human rights abuses. Nevertheless, business has without doubt an important role to play. According to the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, it must act with due diligence to avoid infringing on the rights of others and to address negative impacts with which they are involved. Companies have the power to affect virtually all of the internationally recognized rights and can offer support and expertise on a mutual basis with all other parties. Nevertheless, it should be aware that this strong commercial power can also be misused for pushing politically or ideologically motivated agendas by other parties. In our quest for compliance we should therefore not forget the principle values behind the surface. I am not saying that applying typically business measures in order to comply with human and social laws is not the right thing to do or should stop, in contrast it is an effective way to ensure global responsible behavior but business should be sensitive about its approach and how to proceed. But it always takes two to tango. If business does not engage on eye-level with its local business partners and tries to find common grounds and joined structures how to move forward,
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reflecting about its motives, the result may not be very sustainable after all. This subject has interestingly just been taken up by a new international initiative called Global Value. Against the background that the European Commission and the United Nations have called for private sector accountability for their actions, Global Value is looking for a comprehensive mutually agreed framework to assess how corporate activities are complementing or contradicting official development aid. The aim is to shed light on how international competitiveness on the one and responsible business practices on the other hand can be mutually reinforced in developing countries. For me it is a more holistic approach than to merely instrumentalize business compliance rules to push international agendas. Finally that brings me back to the NYT article. “I sympathize with the restaurant owners because they didn't choose to be in the middle of this, but this is where it is playing out, Mr. Friedman, a professor at Vanderbilt University said, who had asked a restaurant owner to post a “no guns” sign. Indeed it has not been the choice of business to be in the center of this development, having to take over regulatory and executive functions, but actually this is how it works. Business therefor has a role to play with clear human, social and environmental responsibilities. But it must keep in mind that it is only one player in one playing field and not the expert on how to support and sustainably develop societies. What business can do is to offer its economic efficiency, competence and support for development. However, this should be done with a sense of proportion, mutually working with local bona fide parties and including their perception to make something viable for the joined global future.
The author works for CSRfashion, Düsseldorf
1
Want Guns With That? Chefs Find Politics Hotter Than Kitchen, NYT, 31.March 2014
2
Http://www.global-value.eu/
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COVER FOCUS
3rd Global Social Responsibility Conference: An overview
The focus of the discussions in 3rd Global Social Responsibility Conference is “Shareholder Value Vs Social Responsibility”. Over the past couple of decades, agro-based Bangladesh embarked on a journey to attain economic freedom with more flourishing industries. Sectors like RMG and Leather industry are already facing challenges in regards to environmental compliance as well as social safety issues of workers. Besides, the vast workforce that is considered to be blessing for Bangladesh is devoid of proper skills that will upscale the production both quality and quantity wise. Under such circumstances, comes the question of dire need of technical vocational educational training (TVET). Without time appropriate policies and proper implementation of the aforementioned issues, it will be impossible for Bangladesh to ensure a sustainable development. The essence of the conference is to establish the notion that shareholder value is of utmost importance for the sustainability of a business. The business sector has a crucial role to play to achieve that goal. Its ability to innovate, conceptualize and develop strategic solutions in the form of new products and services can help to lead such change and increase its returns on investments. The provision of sustainable products and services bolsters brand value and reputation, which in turn increases sales duration. Improving productivity strengthens profit margins. Business can be rewarded for sustainable actions through favorable tax regimes, which could reduce cost of capital. In the last decade, Bangladesh has made remarkable 32
progress in developing its economy with a GDP growth rate averaging estimated 6%. Attracted by low labor costs, foreign investment grew significantly in economic sectors such as agricultural, construction and the ready-made garment (RMG) sector. The RMG sector plays a particularly important role for Bangladesh’s economy. As of 2013, the sector contributed to 13% of the national GDP and accounted for more than 78% of the country’s exports. More than 4 million workers are employed in the garment sector, with 80 – 90% of them being young women. The success of the country’s RMG sector has been instrumental in Bangladesh’s effort to reduce poverty and at the same time brought about positive changes. Despite making tangible progress in improving workplace safety, especially since the collapse of the Rana Plaza building, 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 serves 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
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This year the conference will explore the values and motives of the shareholders’ in all these regards. The conference will further promote sharing of best practices in the RMG and Leather sector though Social Protection, Environment & compliance and TVET activities. 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. 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 “knowhow”, 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 cost savings achieved by lowering the consumption of water, chemicals and energy can overcome the added costs of replacing hazardous chemicals. 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. The key stakeholders in promoting social responsibility: 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. In 2014, the 3rd Global Social Responsibility Conference will not only present European businesses that will share their socially responsible best practices, but also American companies which have been distinguished by introducing innovative environmental solutions into Bangladesh. European environmental innovations have been guided by Europe’s acclamation of the benefits to move towards the Green Economy as a way to stimulate technological development and to generate jobs and wealth in respect of the environment. The European
Parliament is also considering applying taxes on environmentally harmful practices and cutting VAT on some materials produced from recycled waste, to help promote innovation. In addition, it is determined to promote a carbon low economy thus promoting investments and technological innovation. In this sense, European businesses will be leading the change in favor of sustainable approach for an industry-based economy. So what are the essentials of the 3rd Global Conference on Social Responsibility? This year the conference will explore the values and motives of the shareholders’ in all these regards. The conference will further promote sharing of best practices in the RMG and Leather sector though Social Protection, Environment & compliance and TVET activities. It will also encourage business matching between European & American companies and the Bangladeshi business sector, while providing useful recommendations for policy makers as an essential tool for sustainable development. In short, the conference is all about changing the mindset and setting the green feet forward to attain a better and greener tomorrow. Following are the expected outcomes from the 3rd Global Social Responsibility Conference: 1. Providing platform for engagement in dialogue between major stakeholders such as garment producers, civil society, the government and development partners on the current situation and the need for further environmental and social protection mechanisms in the RMG as well as leather and footwear industry; 2. Fostering a mutual understanding on the expectations and responsibilities of stakeholders in various (both existing and potential) policies in the aforementioned sectors; 3. Exploring possibilities and ways to relocate tanneries as it is prevailing issue for leather industry at present; 4. E x p l o r i n g opportunities towards more comprehensive social protection system for workers in Bangladesh; 5. Sharing the best practices in business that ensure environmental sustainability in both Bangladesh and Europe and the most effective awareness raising campaigns in regards to those matters.
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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)
GSR Conference Speakers and Panelists Master of the Ceremony: Daniel Seidl, Executive Director, BGCCI Inauguration Speeches Pierre Mayaudon, Ambassador, The Head of Delegation, Delegation of the European Union to Bangladesh Sakhawat Abu Khair, President, BGCCI Tofail Ahmed, Honorable Minister, Ministry of Commerce, Bangladesh Md. Mujibul Haque Chunnu, Honorable State Minister, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Bangladesh Dr. Ferdinand von Weyhe, Chargé d' Affaires, German Embassy 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); Md. Atiqul Islam (President, BGMEA); Nazma Akter (Trade Union Representative); Tuomo Poutiainen (Programme Manager, Ready-Made Garment Sector, ILO Dhaka) 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.) 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.) 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) Moderator: 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
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“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 Moderator: Amy Yee Independent Journalist, Contributor for The New York Times 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) Colors from Chars: From Vocational Training Centre to Women Empowerment Nicolas Depoorter (Project Coordinator, Friendship Bangladesh); Abdus Sabur Chowdhury (Senior Manager Communication & Volunteer Management, Friendship Bangladesh) Technical Vocational Educational Training Panel Introductory Notes: Magnus Schmid Coordinator, PSES, GIZ Moderator: Zafar Sobhan Editor, Dhaka Tribune Panelists: Md. Mokhlesur Rahman, PhD (Senior Operations Officer, Education Global Practice, The World Bank); Mahbub Ahmed (Senior Secretary, Finance Division, Ministry of Finance, Bangladesh); Dr. Abdul Haque Talukder (Chairman, (In Charge) Bangladesh Technical Education Board); Mr. Paul Weijers (Team Leader, Skills and Employment Program Bangladesh); Kazuhiko Higuchi (ADB Country Director, Bangladesh); Shafquat Haider (Chairman, Industry Skills Council Information Technology (ICT) ) Tarango: Livelihood Development of Women from Informal Sector Kohinoor Yesmin (CEO & SME Specialist, Tarango-A Women Development Organization) Final remark and Conclusion H.E. Gerben Sjoerd de Jong Ambassador of the Kingdom of Netherlands Daniel Seidl Executive Director, BGCCI In the following pages, you will find profiles of some of the key note speakers, panelists and moderators
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RMG & Fire Safety Panel Rob Wayss Executive Director, Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh Rob Wayss is the Executive Director of the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh. The Accord is an independent agreement between more than 180 global companies and 2 global unions and their national garment worker federation affiliates. The Accord is designed to make garment factories in Bangladesh safe workplaces. The Accord includes independent safety inspections, public reporting of the results of these inspections, and a credible labor-management occupational safety and health committee at every Accord supplier factory. There are approximately 1500 factories producing for the Accord signatory companies in Bangladesh. 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). He served as an agricultural extension volunteer with the US Peace Corps in Lesotho, Southern Africa (1991-93). 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.
Panelist
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. Panelist
Nazma Akter Executive Director for AWAJ Foundation Since the age of 16, the former child labourer 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 Nazma Akter as one of its partners. She is now working at the Awaj Foundation as the Executive Director.
Panelist {Emerging Bangladesh} bgcci.com
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Leather Industry Panel Adnan Nafis Head of Trade Promotion, Social Responsibility & Consultancy BGCCI He has been serving as Head of Trade of Trade Promotion, Social Responsibility and Consultancy of Bangladesh German Chamber of Commerce & Industry since 2012. He has been involved in Trade Promotion, trade diversification & branding in different organizations both in Bangladesh and Thailand. He has been involved in different research projects for more than 4 years and has more than 8 publications about Bangladesh Ready Made Garments sector, trade promotion and diversification. He is working as consultant with McKinsey & Company and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He served in the largest Trade Association in Bangladesh -BGMEA as Deputy Secretary for the research & trade cell. He also worked for the largest NGO, BRAC in the field of Fair Trade development and branding. He has extensive experience in some of the top trade bodies, development organizations and private conglomerates in Bangladesh and abroad. He has done his MBA from Assumption University (ABAC), Thailand.
Key Notes Speaker
Md. Saiful Islam Managing Director, Picard Bangladesh Ltd. Md. Saiful Islam is of 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 ShipChartering, Ship-owning, Ship-repair etc. With his intellectual ideas and hard working he has spread his business wings to some other sectors like RMG, leather goods 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. Picard Bangladesh is the largest leather goods manufacturer company in Bangladesh which employees 1500 workers. 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.
Panelist
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. 36
{Emerging Bangladesh} April - June 2014
Panelist
Sobur Ahmed 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 under the University of Dhaka and imparting lectures and practical classes on various subjects. He worked as a Member of different committee in Bangladesh Standard and Testing Institute (BSTI), Dhaka and conducted various training for local staff engaged in operation and management in the field of leather, footwear & leather products manufacture. He rendered his service as an analyst at BLSC (Bangladesh Leather Service Centre- A project funded by Italian Government and jointly implemented by ITC Geneva and Ministry of Commerce, Bangladesh) for BCLT Laboratory Accreditation activities. 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 (LM-1202) and Leather Engineers and Technologists Society, Bangladesh. (LM- 34). He was a former Member of Productivity Improvement Team, FDDI, Noida, India ( LM-101).
Panelist
Md. Mominul Ahsan Md. Mominul Ahsan is a Senior Management Professional with more than 24 years of experience has successfully established and grown private-public sector relationships to ensure maximum impact. He has successfully worked with reputed private sector, multinational companies including Sanofi-Aventis & Bata Shoe Company Bangladesh Limited. Mr. Ahsan was promoted to Executive Director of Landmark Footwear Unit of Apex Group, a Syed Manzur Elahi Enterprises effective from February 1, 2014. Currently, he is responsible for leather footwear Production, Planning, Human Resources Management, Sales & Marketing and Financial Control of the unit. 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. In this role, he reviews, analyses and administers human resources and compliance programs. Mr. Ahsan served as a National Consultant for the International Labor Organization (ILO) from 2009-2013. In 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) with the input and buy-in of stakeholders from donor community, industry & government. As the current CEO of COEL, he leads the team to provide onestop skill solutions for the leather, footwear and leather goods sectors.
Panelist
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.
Panelist {Emerging Bangladesh} bgcci.com
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Social Protection of Workers – Aiming Further to Enhance Productivity and Reputation Panel Johanna Knoess Head of Sector Initiative Social Protection, Deutsche Gesellschaft fßr Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH in Eschborn, Germany.) 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). This includes providing technical and policy advisory services and facilitating the international dialogue on social protection issues in a wide range of technical areas such as social health protection, basic social assistance, pension reforms, work place accident insurance as well as institutional capacity building issues related to social protection reforms in partner countries. She has 12 years of working experience in development cooperation with various employers such GTZ/GIZ, World Bank, ILO working in the field of public health (focus on HIV/AIDS)/ health systems strengthening, social protection and gender mainstreaming. She has worked on Global (and Corporate) Social Responsibility with various stakeholders such as the World Bank, ILO, the World Economic Forum and the Global Business Coalition on promoting HIV/AIDS work place policies and programmes in the public and the private sector in previous positions. In her current position global social responsibility is of course a very important topic as we social protection is perceived shared responsibility between workers, employers and the government and the decent work agenda is a core aspect of social protection reforms.
Panelist
Heng Sophannarith Deputy Director of Health Insurance Heng Sophannarith 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.
Panelist
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 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.
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{Emerging Bangladesh} April - June 2014
“Sustainable and Profitable Management of Water, Chemicals and Wastewater: What this means for consumers, the environment and your business" Panel Kazy Mohammad Iqbal Hossain Senior Environmental Chemist (Asian Subcontinent-Dhaka Based) Kazy Mohammad Iqbal Hossain 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. He is Members of several local and international professional societies of Water and Wastewater Engineering.
Keynote Speaker
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. She was a staff reporter and foreign correspondent for the Financial Times from 1999 to 2008 in New York and New Delhi. 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 from South Asia recognized by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon. She is a 2014 finalist in the UNCA awards to be announced in New York this December. 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. Her journalism focuses on human and economic development; business and business models to reduce poverty; and new approaches to improve lives through clean energy, public health, education and other areas. She also writes about arts and culture.
Moderator
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 academic and corporate environment for around five years. She has intense interest and work experience in green industrial development, energy efficiency, waste to energy and GHG mitigation. {Emerging Bangladesh} bgcci.com
Panelist
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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, expanding its market presence from the textile/apparel sector to other areas such as logistics, plantations, power and education. 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. In recognition for his initiatives, he was invited to speak at numerous international engagements, including the United Nations Forum on Green Economy and also the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Private Sector Forum. 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.
Panelist
Dr. Shanmuga Sundaram Managing Director TĂœV Rheinland Bangladesh Pvt.Ltd, Dhaka, Bangladesh Dr. Shanmuga Sundaram 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 and Srilanka. 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.
Panelist
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 in the Departments of Public Health as well as in the Environmental Science & management 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 delves in the environmental health issues. He is concerned with the pattern of climate change and human health as well as climatic adaptation strategy. He is also engaged in research and consultancy in WASH. He is recognizable with GIS for SDSS; STATA and SPSS for statistical operations. Along with geostatistical analysis, he is familiar with spatial modelling for health risk assessment. Professor Hassan wrote a significant number of research papers and book chapters. His published papers are largely focused on GIS theories and methodologies, groundwater arsenic poisoning, medical waste management, and spatial health risk assessment. He is pioneer in Bangladesh for Public Participation GIS (PPGIS). 40
{Emerging Bangladesh} April - June 2014
Panelist
Technical Vocational Educational Training Panel Magnus Schmid His key qualifications are in the areas of private sector 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). Keynote Speaker
Md. Abdul Hoque Talukder Ph.D Joint Secretary Chairman, Bangladesh Technical Education Board, Md. Abdul Hoque Talukder Obtained his PhD. Degree from Institute of Bangladesh Studies, Rajshahi University, August 2003. Title of the thesis was “Impact of Family Size on Health and Well-being: A Study of Some Selected Areas in Bangladesh”. 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 worked as Team Leader in the project “Research and Mobilization on Cost of Education. Bangladesh Country Report” conducted by Dhaka Ahsania Mission and sponsored by Action Aid UK for 2 months in the year 2003. He has a number of research publication on topics like child labor, social work strategy etc. Besides teaching in various government colleges, he worked as Director Administration, Directorate of Technical Education, under Ministry of Education from September 2007 to August 2009. He is working as Secretary, Bangladesh Technical Education Board under Ministry of Education from September 2009 to till today.
Panelist
Paul Weijers Team Leader Skills and Employment Programme Bangladesh Paul Weijers is working for the DFID/SDC funded programmes 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 The programme stimulates the private sector to deliver vocational skills training sustainably and at scale in the RMMG and the Construction sectors. With a budget of approx. USD 36 million for 5 years, it operates two component: 1) Co-financing Industry-led training initiatives through the so-called ITF (Industry-led Training Fund) for training at least 30,000 employees, and 2) support a minimum of 45 private training providers to deliver training to at least 80,000 people. Development of market systems in vocational training is the key to sustainable delivery. With the private sector in the lead, relevance to the skill-demand is ensured. The following three dimensions will ensure success in industry-led training: 1) Direct impact on people employed by partnering industries, 2) Direct contribution to the productivity of the partnering industries, and 3) market uptake by other industries of the training systems. {Emerging Bangladesh} bgcci.com
Panelist
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FEATURE
Colors from the Chars
Friendship Weaving Centers: Breaking New Grounds Rural Bangladesh is a beautiful tapestry of colors, sights and smells. This tapestry remains incomplete without the people that create the stories and reflect the soul behind this rural backdrop. Northern Bangladesh is one such area where mighty rivers bend and twist across the landscape set on the sandy river islets that skitter across the rivers are where Friendship Weaving Centers are situated. An initiative 42
of Friendship, a value based non-governmental organization that works with poor and marginalized communities. These weaving centers employ women from these remote localities to produce truly beautiful and authentically made scarves and saris using traditional looms. Beautifully Woven Products: Handmade in Bangladesh Locally sourced and carefully selected cotton, cotton
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yarn, spun silk and silk yarn are used to create these beautiful products. The use of both natural and Azo free color dye to create the vivid patterns ensures minimal environmental impact. There is good demand for these authentically made scarves both at home and abroad. These scarves are currently being sold in a few Western European countries with the support of Friendship Luxembourg, one of Friendship's large network of supporters based in Europe. The scarves are currently being designed by Luxembourg based designers Anne-Marie Herckes and Virginie Depoorter. Friendship has seven weaving centers, five of which has dying and printing facilities running successfully in the northern river islet regions of Bangladesh and employing over two hundred women in the production of gorgeous and vibrant scarves, saris and various other types of ethnic wear of cotton and silk. These weaving centers provide a healthy alternative to the mass manufacturing centric garment industry in Bangladesh. Worker empowerment, quality, personalization and fair trade are at the heart of all clothing items produced here. These handmade scarves have won the World Crafts Council Award of Excellence for Handicrafts in the Asia Pacific Region this year. Apart from this they have been featured in a recent 'Rock A Field' concert in Luxembourg this June. There is a story behind every scarf: Empowering Women Friendship's weaving centers are breaking new grounds, not only by being the first cottage industry in the chars (shifting river islets), but also, even more importantly, for being a unique establishment that focuses on women. Friendship provides them with skill-building and income generating opportunities of their own, as well as providing them access to literacy courses which are an integral part of this program. They serve as a symbol for women's empowerment in the face of disempowering forces such as social conventions and self-inhibition. In addition to transforming the male dominant mind-sets of the chars, this initiative also gives women and adolescent girls a sense of self-worth and prestige that comes from being earning members of their community. With growing concern around the world of the working conditions in Readymade Garments industries, Friendship's weaving centers provide an alternative to buyers of responsible and fair industries. About Friendship: Realization Leads To Responsibility Runa Khan 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
Chars are low lying flood and erosion prone islets adjacent to major rivers. These are formed by the constant deposition of sand and silt and fragmentation. These nomadic islands are temporary due to constant erosion caused by the powerful flow of rivers.
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 & Infrastr uctural 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 Our scarves are currently being sold here: www.friendship.lu/shop To know more about our products and weaving center please email us: info@friendship-bd.org
{Emerging Bangladesh} bgcci.com
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FEATURE
Painting for Joy
O
On 24 April, 2013 the Rana Plaza complex, including its five factories collapsed, claiming the lives of more than 1,135 workers and injuring 2400 more. The tragic loss of lives has not only had an enormous impact on the victims' relatives but also on the garment manufacturing industry, international stakeholders, and the international garment business. Savar Victims Support (SVS) quickly took care of the most vulnerable victims of the this tragedy, who were formerly garment workers at the Rana Plaza complex. SVS also supports a group of of 27 orphans with financial contributions, emotional support, and sustained follow-up visits at Savar. With the collapse of Rana Plaza the lives of these children have inexplicably been changed forver. When the children were first introduced to the program, they had a hard time communicating or sharing their feelings, opening up or simply making eye-contact. A large portion of the children had difficulty sleeping, eating and speaking. The children suffered trauma over the loss of their mother or father, and in some cases both. Besides, the loss of their parents, most of the children experienced a 44
An exhibition of paintings by victims of the Rana Plaza tragedy leaves the spectators with awe
dramatic shift in their lives and were wither taken out of school, were taken away from their familiar surroundings and family support, and in some cases, the child had not been taken care of at all. The vulnerability and critical circumstances of these young victims' stress needed urgent and continuous support and a focused attention into the details of all aspects of the these children's lives. To expand the type of support provided to the children and, in view of the dire need for the children to have an opportunity for recreation in their difficult circumstances, a series of Recreation Days for the children was started last spring. The Recreations days are designed to ensure that the children receive full attention, dedication and devotion. They deserve an interactive and educational environment that would facilitate their development, and help them make sustained progress toward full recovery. The recreationsl Days have proven to be very effective in providing a recreational outlet for the traumatized children. The children spend the whole day in a cheerful atmosphere, each and every one of
{Emerging Bangladesh} April - June 2014
Savar Victims Support has been on the frontline of the Rana Plaza disaster, providing relief to those in need. The objective has been to assist the Rana Plaza victims and dependents with medical treatment and essential needs over a limited period of time. Successful implementation has led to the expansion of the reach of the program to include components for rehabilitation, recreation, and education. Savar Victims Support works actively and responsively and adapts and expands the program to suit the needs of the victims. From the commencement of Savar Victims Support the team has worked firstly for urgent relief, secondly stabilization, and finally for rehabilitation. them smile, enjoy, laugh and are able to express themselves creatively. A real change can be seen among children when they are given the opportunity to enjoy themselves and this shall continue to remain an important aspect of the support provided to them. 9 Recreation Days have already been held with intial suppprt from a private donation from doctors and friends from Michigan in the US, an SME ground water firm Ribeka GmBH in Germany, and finally followed by a sponsorship from ADLER Moderm채rkte AG. One of the most impor tant components of the children's Recreation Day is letting the children create art. Surprisingly children express things through their art that they don't have words for yet. Creating art expands a child's ability to interact with the world around them, and provides a new set of skills for self-expression and communication. The organizers were
wowed by the amazing drawings the children came up with. Some of them were very colorful and showed the sunny side of their present lives while some had dark, grim presentation and thought-provoking. And for those the event was organized-those children enjoyed it to the fullest as they enjoyed 100% freedom to pour their heart out on the white papers with colors. SVS: By the Numbers The program provides support to 35 young mothers who were pregnant and employed garment workers at the time of Rana Plaza and have since given birth. There are 27 half and full orphans in the program. 120 Rana Plaza victims were admitted in GK Dhanmondi Hospital and GK Savar Hospital from July 2013 to October 2014 receiving free treatment (including meal). In total 724 patients have been treated in hospital outdoor, Indoor and in medical camps Through the sponsorship of Adler and KiK textilien monthly monetary support can be provided to the most vulnerable victims of Rana Plaza. Each beneficiary receives 3.000 taka to cover basic needs such as housing, clothing, and food. To know more, please contact Meena e.V. Saver Victims Support
{Emerging Bangladesh} bgcci.com
Farhana von Mitzlaff, Founder farhana@meena-support.de Andreana de Jong, Communication Manager andreana@meena-support.de
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FEATURE
SR Asia International Conference Took Place in Dhaka
SR Asia international conference held at Bangladesh Bank training Academy (BBTA) Mirpur Dhaka, Bangladesh. The two days conference was organized on responsible business conduct (RBC) and further discuss sub theme of poverty alleviation and financial inclusion. Conference was inaugurated by Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr. Atiur Rahman with key note address to full gathering of over 300 delegates from various countries and across sectors and institution. BGCCI was the industrial partner of the conference. Sumaya Rashid shared the conference objective and agenda. The Governor shared key figures, issues and polices relating to RBC in Bangladesh, the robust economy and growing foreign exchange and second highest on FI in the region. He highlighted some forward looking polices for FIs in Bangladesh in the time to come. The Governor declared open the conference sharing his key note address for further 46
deliberations and inputs. Dy Govenror Mr. S K Sur Chowdhury gave facts figures of the various initiatives taken by BB and positive outcome of the same. SR Asia conducted a survey on “Poverty Alleviation through CSR 2014” in association with BGCCI (Bangladesh German Chamber of Commerce & Industries” and SR Asia international director Mr. Birendra Raturi shared survey and research analysis with the emphasis that only and only business can change the menace of poverty by positive and sustained development work. He cited many past and current innovations by the individual technocrats, scientist and economist who made phenomenal contribution to the human kind in the field of computer hardware and software, IT and Telecom, Energy like LED, Medicine, Microfinance and governance. The survey and research results indicate for
{Emerging Bangladesh} April - June 2014
Bangladesh that Business can not be responsible for poverty alleviation and financial inclusion directly as they contribute significantly through economic development, creating job opportunity and have primary responsibility to run the business and make it run successfully. The survey clearly highlighted the need of skill development, job oriented education and labour intensive manufacturing and export promotion. Session on poverty alleviation through financial inclusion was chaired by DG-BIBM. Dr. Somporn Hanpongpandh an Integrated rural Development expert to CIRDAP from Malaysia shared and discussed the financial inclusion research data of Asia. He said it was important to focus on rural areas and develop sector like agriculture, education and development projects. DFID discussed various innovative projects they have undertaken in Bangladesh for livelihood and sustainable poverty alleviation. PKSF shared collateral free loans to the poor but strict recovery by enforcing the project implementation, monitoring and evaluation. Fazual Haq fromer President of BKMEA chaired the session on international standards as enablers to the export. He emphasized that organization no more can think and act local in the age of global markets and requirements and at the same. time responsible business conduct that means ensure social responsibility can not be done away to make the meaningful contribution to the social development. Other speakers shared their own experiences on how of late now CSR and RBC initiatives are evaluated as part of the preliminary assessment for supplier registration. As country like Bangladesh would like to increase its export with significant percentage adopting and adapting to international standards is the only choice and better choice otherwise go and perish. Director Export promotion Bureau shared how they have been able to promote successfully and incrementally over the years. Green Banking and CSR in sustainable energy sector, the session was chaired by the Vice Chancellor Northern University Bangladesh. DGM CSR and GB shared the policies on the sector to promote green energy. He shared the green products have been identified and fund allocation are made to promote these products. He asked public and private sectors banks to take it up on priorities. Energy Pac CEO shared the products range already developed by their {Emerging Bangladesh} bgcci.com
organizations meeting the policy guideline. GIZ shared various initiatives by them to promote solar energy and many challenges for the sector to get funding. IIDFC shared inspiring case study. Skill Development and poverty alleviation session was chaired by Mr. Khondkar Mostan Hossian, Joint Secretary with Ministry of Labor & Employment Government of Bangladesh. He shared his ministry actively working national skill development program. Other experts who joined him were from Srilanka and ILO Bangladesh. Srilankan Expert shared how their organization over forty years' experience in skill development in various areas is contributing and holistically promoting education. The organization annual train more than 25000 persons. ILO shared their role in educating Rana Plaza victim for employability. ILO currently training the accident victim emotionally and technically those who became disabled. International standards, guidelines and tools for poverty alleviation was chaired by the former secretary, Government of Bangladesh Dr. Mahafuzal Haque. He articulated the relevance of such standards in developing and building Bangladesh for 2021. Ms. Rumi Ariyoushi first Secretary with Japan Embassy in Bangladesh discussed in detail the Japanese philosophy and holistic approach of responsible business conduct in Asian countries. She also made reference to the OECD guideline for MNC and emphasized nine areas covered. She also put RBC as compliance, and common sense of prosperity and fair action. She also explained Asian way of sustainability ( Sanpo Yoshi) in detail and pitch for the individual sprit to think as “make my company's survive long period and make my life meaningful�. Impact of climatic change on poverty was chaired by Md. Abdul Karim Former Secretary Govt of Bangladesh and MD PKSF. He brought up initiatives of social engagement and financial inclusion by PKSF in the coastal regions and hardship of the poor's in the region. Concern worldwide shared various initiatives in the costal regions and innovative solutions implemented. The climatic impact will not be limited to the dwellers on costal regions but to the migrants from the regions and therefore a holistic approach to mitigate all risk is required shared the experts.
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