Labour crisis in labour-intensive industry leaves entrepreneurs worried

Kaixi Lingerie Bangladesh Co Limited has started production as the first garment factory in Bepza Economic Zone located in Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Shilpanagar in Chattogram’s Mirsarai.

This Chinese owned company is 100 per cent export oriented and the company has so far recruited 700 skilled and unskilled workers to start production in a limited scale.

However, the factory will employ a total of 11,000 people when all units of the factory become operational.  

In the Bepza economic zone, another Chinese company named KPST has started production. The company targets to produce raw materials of 30 million pairs of shoes annually with an investment of 8 million US dollars. But the company is worried as it is yet to get female workers according to its needs.

KPST’s human resource officer Manjur Islam told Prothom Alo, "Our factory is now producing on a small scale. Although male workers are available, it is getting harder to find female workers for our factory.”

Entrepreneurs and officials of various companies investing in labour-intensive industries in this Economic Zone said the housing and public transport crisis have made it difficult to avail the required number of workers, much to the worry of investors.

Investors say that due to the housing and public transport crisis in the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Shilpanagar area, workers from faraway places including Chattogram city do not want to work here. As a result, the companies in the economic zone have been facing a crisis of skilled workers.

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Shilpanagar has been built on an area of 33,805 acres in Mirsrai. Seven industrial organisations have already started production there. Three of these organisations belong to the Bepza Economic Zone. The companies there, especially labour-intensive ones, are facing a labour crisis.

Asked, Kaixi Lingerie Bangladesh’s human resource officer Zaman Ullah told Prothom Alo, “We are the first to start production as an export-oriented garment factory in Bepza Economic Zone of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Shilpanagar. We will recruit 7,000 skilled and unskilled workers in this factory. However, if all units of the factory are operational, a total of 11,000 people will be employed. But the housing and public transport crisis have made it very difficult for us to find workers here. Workers are not being found in the area despite campaigning in various ways.”

Xiao Hongxi, director of Kaixi Lingerie Bangladesh, told Prothom Alo, "We will invest 11 million dollars in various sectors of the export-oriented garment industry. Already a unit of women's garment has started production. But the labour crisis here has made us worried. We have had several meetings with Bangladesh Economic Zone Authority (BEZA) and Bepza to resolve the labour crisis. They were supportive. Hopefully, we will go into full production soon, overcoming this crisis.”

Bepza Economic Zone’s project director Mohammad Enamul Haque told Prothom Alo, “Several factories including garment factories have started production in Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Shilpanagar and Bepza Economic Zone. Of them, one-two companies that invested in Bepza Economic Zone have informed us about the labour crisis. We’ve held multiple meetings with the Prime Minister’s Office and BRTC chairman on resolving the accommodation crisis in Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Shilpanagar and launching transport. We hope the problem will be solved soon.”  

Bangladesh Export Processing Zone (Bepza) is setting up a separate economic zone of 539 industrial plots on an area of 1,138 acres at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Shilpanagar. Three factories producing shoe raw materials, clothing and foam have already started production there. So far various companies have taken allocation of 150 plots to set up factories.