Industry Update/National Response

Despite a rise in coronavirus cases, the government allowed reopening of offices and public transport services as of 31 May, ending 66 days of lockdown measures. Workplaces are allowed to operate on a limited scale, subject to their compliance with the health and safety guidelines. Additionally, the country is now divided into three zones — red for high risk, yellow for medium-infected regions, and white for no-risk areas.
Garment factories have started to reopen with a limited number of workers as of 26 April. Industry stakeholders anticipate a gradual reopening of factories to maintain compliance with COVID-19 guidelines from government authorities.
The government announced a set of stimulus packages worth $8.56 billion to fight the impact of COVID-19 in Bangladesh. Of the packages, $600 million was previously announced in late March for export-oriented industries. Affected garment factories can avail funds from the $600 million deal in loans at 2% interest to pay their workers’ salaries for up to 3 months – paid into either a bank or mobile financial services account. The rest of the packages, carrying different rates of interest, will benefit other industries, service sector, SME(s), etc.
The latest information from BGMEA states that 1,150 factories have lost export orders worth $3.18 billion (982 million pieces), and that 2.28 million workers have been affected. www.bgmea.com.bd

Factory Service Update

Better Work released a COVID-19 Management Guidance document in April to help factories reduce the risk of coronavirus and take practical measures to maintain necessary Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) conditions.
Better Work Bangladesh’s in-person advisory, assessment and training services are suspended until further notice.
For factories that remain open, in-person advisory visits have been replaced by tailored virtual advisory through video conferencing. Virtual visits include working with management and worker representatives, primarily focusing on practical guidance on COVID-19 response and addressing unforeseen compliance issues.
Although assessments are temporarily on hold, brand partners still have access to factories’ live improvement plan and progress reports on the Better Work portal.
The team is mobilising resources for virtual industry seminars and training to provide factories with technical input and guidance.

On 1 July, the ILO, jointly with factory owners’ associations (BGMEA and BKMEA), launched the Learning Hub, a comprehensive training initiative coordinated by Better Work Bangladesh to respond to the COVID-19 crisis in the RMG sector in Bangladesh.
Webinars with Better Work buyer partners are anticipated the second week in May on OSH guidance and on labour issues/legal issues linked to retrenchment.
Better Work hosted a Buyers’ Forum on 30 April to present the industry Call to Action and technical material from Better Work related to COVID-19 workplace response.
The ILO together with other UN agencies and BGMEA has created a task force with interested buyers to support the production of level-1 PPE equipment in the country, both as a response to the immediate Covid-19 crisis and as a future investment in higher-level PPE production capacity in the long-term.
Better Work hosted a webinar with buyer partners on 2 April to address early COVID-19 response strategies.