Mostafiz Uddin

The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) will announce a new president on April 4, as well as a new board of directors. Whoever wins the election and takes over as BGMEA president faces a mountainous challenge.

It’s not all doom and gloom. The past 12 months have seen one bad news after another, and it has often felt like we are taking two steps forwards and three steps back.

Recently it was announced that one of the world’s leading online fashion companies, Boohoo, is looking at financially incentivising its leadership team for achieving sustainability targets.

For 12 months now, the global fashion industry has been in a state of flux. Shops are opened, shops are closed. They are reopened, then they are closed again. This story is playing out throughout the world, in the US, Europe and beyond.

It has been around one year since the coronavirus pandemic began to bring about sweeping changes in our industry.

As we all know, the past 12 months have seen many apparel retailers go bust, leaving a trail of financial destruction in their wake.

When people write about automation, they often discuss it as if this is some futuristic development which will change the way we do business.

High streets around the world are changing rapidly. The coronavirus pandemic has led to a great many store closures and seen more and more businesses shift online in our major export markets.

Who is thinking of the manufacturers? Who is considering the garment workers?

Many of us will have heard the story of the boiled frog. Legend has it that if you put a frog in a pot of boiling water, it will instantly leap out. But if you put it in a pot filled with pleasantly tepid water and gradually heat it, the frog will remain in the water until it boils to death.

Among the main characteristics which brands look for when entering a sourcing destination are political stability. Stability brings confidence and certainty and allows brands and retailers to plan long-term.

Issues around sustainability come and go, but some topics will remain as important now as they were before the current global pandemic began.

We are hearing a lot of businesses and brands make pledges about the climate at present. Along with pledges to cut climate emissions, there is talk of cutting water use, chemical use, and addressing a range of other supply chain issues. The overall goal is to improve sustainability.

How do we as consumers make the right purchasing decisions? Most of us these days wish to buy products and services with a reduced environmental footprint.

At present, the RMG industry in Bangladesh employs around four million people, a large majority of them women with dependent families.

The global apparel industry is broken and only urgent, drastic surgery can fix it. I am not talking about another initiative or another public relations exercise. I am talking about deep, systemic change to be agreed by all involved—by brands, by suppliers, governments, unions and NGOs.

During the past few months, I had worked on a documentary for the BBC which looks at the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the apparel industry of Bangladesh.

In the past 12 months, we have seen overwhelming commitments made by the global apparel industry towards circular economy and making fashion circular.

We are still here and still fighting, even though the past few months have been tough. Myself, and many of my contemporaries running garment factories in Bangladesh are well qualified, experienced, we have the training and we have the knowledge. But absolutely nothing could have prepared us for the past few months.

In the discussions around climate impacts and business, a missing link is often the consumer.