Unboxing the Ready Made Garments (RMG) sector of Bangladesh

Abstract

The ready-made garments (RMG) sector of Bangladesh has developed immensely under the broad radar of the export market, and its size is beyond imagination. Unfortunately, there has been no study that explores the whole universe of the RMG sector of Bangladesh rather the story of the RMG sector often involves the export market only. The discussion of this paper intends to explore the methodology of unboxing the whole universe of the RMG sector of Bangladesh that includes small and medium-sized manufacturing and processing units that are often involved with subcontracting for other factories (producing for the export market as well as domestic market), are suppliers of the domestic market, are producers of accessories, and are providing backward linkages and associated services. The discussion addresses that along with export-oriented RMG factories there exists an unexplored and unboxed universe of manufacturing and processing units associated with the RMG sector of Bangladesh that contributes to investment, employment, trade, export, and the economy as a whole, all of which remains unaccounted for.

Challenges to increasing visibility and support for children in Bangladesh's informal ready‐made garment factories

“…Bangladeshi export-oriented garment suppliers generate significant waste materials purchased for use as raw materials in the informal domestic markets (Chowdhury & Shajahan, 2021). While such recycling practices provide an opportunity for a reduction in the environmental impacts of production, these transactions are not transparent to buyers (Chowdhury & Shajahan, 2021).…”

“…Bangladeshi export-oriented garment suppliers generate significant waste materials purchased for use as raw materials in the informal domestic markets (Chowdhury & Shajahan, 2021). While such recycling practices provide an opportunity for a reduction in the environmental impacts of production, these transactions are not transparent to buyers (Chowdhury & Shajahan, 2021). Without corporate oversight and government regulation of waste, global supply chains will remain linked to occupational safety hazards, forced labour, and child labour in the informal domestic markets.…”

“…At the same time, these informal factories in Keraniganj producing for local markets rely on the waste materials produced by export‐oriented factories. Linked industries to the informal factories include woollen textiles, dyeing, bleaching and finishing textiles, embroidery, printing, and jute textiles (Chowdhury & Shajahan, 2021). While Keraniganj is almost entirely informal, Narayanganj, a district adjacent to Dhaka, hosts thousands of both formal and informal apparel factories ¶…”

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“…Readymade garments (RMG) industry has been facing massive challenges, since many buyers have canceled bulk volume of orders due to unexpected spread and consequences of COVID-19. Moreover, MiB report (Mapped in Bangladesh) has reported closing of 198 RMG factories while another 286 factories temporarily closed providing unpaid leave to the workers [13] and making 894,930 workers unemployed (ADB) during the pandemic. Therefore, I think there is a necessity of empirical investigation for exploring the strategies.…”

Roles of Government Agents in Industrial Relations in Ready-Made Garment Industry of Bangladesh: A Qualitative Approach

“…Ready-made Garment (RMG) is considered the biggest export-earning industry in Bangladesh and acts as the driver of economic growth which pushes this country from lower to middleincome levels (Chowdhury & Shajahan, 2021). This identical industry is the second biggest exporter industry in the world after China amounting to $34 billion which is 84.21% of the total export of the country (Khan & Roy, 2022).…”