With the goal for developing a digital repository of the factory workers in the export-oriented ready-made garment (RMG) industry, Brac University (BracU) and Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate on a new project titled “Digital Repository of RMG Workers”.
The 3-year MoU signing ceremony took place at the BGMEA office in Dhaka on 25 October 2021, with Mr Faruque Hassan (President, BGMEA) and Professor Vincent Chang, PhD (Vice-Chancellor, BracU) as the signatories.
Bangladesh RMG sector shares a history of almost four glorious decades, but comprehensive information on its employed workers is yet to bring together. Being a labour-intensive industry and having the importance of the labour force to ensure sustainable growth, it is essential to have an accurate, complete, and credible data repository of the entire workforce of the RMG industry.
Realizing this context, BracU and BGMEA have stepped to collaborate on this joint project. It is expected that a digital repository on the workers’ demographic, livelihood and socio-economic information can be utilized to design significant interventions and to formulate policies for the workers’ well-being while contributing to Digital Bangladesh Vision 2021.
“We believe that the MoU signing reflects the commitment of BGMEA for a sustainable RMG industry in Bangladesh and BGMEA’s vision for a healthy industrial ecosystem”, expressed by the BGMEA President Mr Faruque Hassan. “The digital repository will help minimize the information gaps and clarify the wider perception about the industry through empirical evidence” he added.
“Brac University is delighted to be a part of such industry-academia partnership and can play a vital role in bringing research integrity through this collaboration”, stated Brac University VC Professor Vincent Chang.
Professor Dr Rahim B Talukdar [Adviser, Centre for Entrepreneurship Development (CED), BracU] remarked that “Through this digital repository, there will be knowledge and technology transfer between parties involved in the project.”
As the new collaboration between BracU and BGMEA for the joint collaboration on “Digital Repository of RMG Workers” is now official after the MoU signing, both parties are expecting necessary support from all the stakeholders for making this project a success.
Mr Miran Ali (Vice President, BGMEA), Ms Afshana Choudhury (Joint Director – CED, Lead Operations Officer – MiB, BracU), and Ms Naureen Chowdhury (Senior Programme Manager – Labour Rights, Laudes Foundation) were also present at the occasion, among others.