Additional $4.12 billion spent on energy in 8 months: Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir

Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir, the Prime Minister’s Adviser on Finance and Planning, has said the crisis in the Middle East has placed additional pressure on the energy sector, resulting in extra expenditure of USD 4.12 billion over the past eight months.

Despite the challenging circumstances, an initiative has been taken to develop the Matarbari area into an energy hub, he added.

Titumir made the remarks on Monday at an event organised by the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), the trade body representing garment manufacturers and exporters.

The BGMEA has launched a new platform to monitor environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices in garment factories and strengthen their capacity to comply with relevant standards.

The platform was inaugurated in the morning at the BGMEA Complex in Uttara, Dhaka. Initially, 326 companies have joined the initiative.

Special guests at the event included M Masrur Reaz, chairman and chief executive officer of Policy Exchange Bangladesh; Munshi Sulaiman, research director of the BRAC Institute of Governance and Development; and Christian Brix Møller, Denmark’s ambassador to Bangladesh.

Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir said competing in the global market solely on the basis of low-priced products was no longer viable. Compliance with environmental standards was essential for the sake of future generations, he added.

Emphasising the importance of policy consistency in attracting investment, Titumir said the government had undertaken reform programmes in several areas to improve the investment climate.

An initiative to ensure continuity in tax policy for five years was also part of these efforts, he said.

BGMEA President Mahmud Hasan Khan said the organisation wanted to make compliance with ESG standards mandatory for its member factories. Discussions would be held with the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) on the matter.

He added that if Bangladesh’s graduation from the least developed country (LDC) category were postponed, the additional time would provide an opportunity to undertake such preparatory work.

M Masrur Reaz, chairman of Policy Exchange Bangladesh, said 70 per cent of buyers in Europe and 73 per cent in the United States wanted to engage with environmentally responsible businesses and initiatives.

Buyers also wanted to know how much carbon was emitted during the manufacturing process, he added.

As a result, compliance with ESG standards had become an integral part of competing in global markets, Reaz said, noting that similar initiatives had already been introduced in Vietnam and India.

Christian Brix Møller, Denmark’s ambassador to Bangladesh, said initiatives of this kind would strengthen the competitiveness of the manufacturing sector.