Preparing Bangladesh RMG sector for Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR)

27 October 2020: The RMG industry of Bangladesh needs to get prepared to embrace the opportunities and face the challenges posed by Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), said Dr. Rubana Huq, President, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA). She made the remark at a webinar on Post COVID-19: Challenges and Opportunities for Entrepreneurship and Employment in the context of current status of Skill Development and preparation for Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). France-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIFB), in collaboration with Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) and supported by Business France, organized the webinar.

Dr. Rubana Huq said that only 8 percent of jobs in the RMG sector is automated. “We hope by 2025 will be reaching 25 percent. If we can increase level of literacy and bring in coding and mathematics as a compulsory subject at primary level education, then we could have changed the scenario.While 75 million are supposed to loss job, 133 million people are supposed to be gaining. So,there are always opportunities where challenges are.”

Meanwhile, Bangladesh RMG sector aims to generate export earnings of about USD 41 billion for the fiscal year 2020-21, including 33,79 billion dollars from exports of ready-made clothing items, according to the details published by the Export Promotion Board. Export earnings for Bangladesh rose annually by 2.58% to almost $10 billion in the first quarter of the 2020-21 fiscal year. Severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, Bangladesh’s export sector is now returning to normal. In the last financial year 2019-20 its export sales fell by about 17% to $33.67 billion, the lowest since 2014-15.