‘GOTS Bangladesh Seminar 2019’ was successfully held in Dhaka, Bangladesh on 8th September 2019, at International Convention City Bashundhara (ICCB). ‘Connecting for Success’ was the theme of the second GOTS seminar in Dhaka. Around 330 participants from six countries congregated for fruitful discussions on sustainability and organic textiles.
The formal program started with the welcome address from Mr. Sumit Gupta, Seminar Coordinator and Deputy Director, Standards Development & Quality Assurance-GOTS followed by 4 different sessions- including slide show presentation, question-answer and with a panel discussion.
The 1st session was conducted on ‘Sustainable Retail: Stories from Fashion Industry’. Claudia Kersten, GOTS Managing Director, Germany, was present as the moderator of this session. Bruno Van Sieleghem, Stanley and Stella S.A., Belgium and Jan Moritz, Julius Hüpeden GmbH, Germany were present as the speaker.
The 2nd session held on ‘Technical Criteria and Implementation’ where Rahul Bhajekar, GOTS Managing Director delivered a presentation on this session. Rahul Bhajekar, speaks on GMO testing protocol, ISO IWA 32 – Technical Details and Impacts and he also showed Central Database System – Enhanced Traceability in GOTS supply chain. Implementation of GOTS tools sometimes expensive and connected to huge investment, in reply to this question Sumit Gupta said, “GOTS has own standard and communication tools and I believe, following the GOTS routine will be helpful to reduce cost.” Ms. Prachi Gupta, Expert Quality Assurance & Impact-GOTS were present as the panelists in this session.
The 3rd session was on topic ‘Connecting on the Job: Workers and Management’. With a panel discussion, moderated by Herbert Ladwig, Policy and Legal Advisor, GOTS, Germany, this session tried to explore the working conditions at the garments (and other) factories in Bangladesh for a meaningful connection and strong ties between workers and factory owners for mutual growth. Armanul Azim, Tosrifa Industries Limited, Bangladesh; Dr. Uttam Kumar Das, Advocate, Supreme Court of Bangladesh and Abdul Mottaleb, CERES Bangladesh were present as the panelists in this session.
