Mohammad Nurul Alam
The first ever motivational public speaking event “INSPIRATION” organized by Textile Focus, an industry-centric knowledge platform for the textile and apparel industry held in Dhaka on 11th November 2023.
Faruque Hassan, President, BGMEA was present as the Chief Guest whereas Fazlul Hoque Former President, BKMEA, Managing Director, Plummy Fashion Ltd.; Abdullah Hil Rakib, Director, BGMEA & Managing Director, Team Group; Engr. Md. Shafiqur Rahman, President, ITET; Managing Director, Hams Group; Md. Nazmul Kabir Managing Director, Fashion Globe Group; Jalal Ahmed, Sr. ED of Ha-Meem Group; Saifur Rahman, Regional Operations Manager, G-Star RAW; Helal Mohammad Nuri, CEO, SLG International, Zarin Rashid, Director, TRZ Garments Industry Ltd and Davide Righi, Sales Director, Garmon Chemicals were present as distinguished speakers. Besides, many young RMG leaders shared their experiences and observations at the event.
“The journey of the RMG industry in Bangladesh was not easy to reach 47 billion in exports as today we see!“- Faruque Hassan, BGMEA President
BGMEA President Faruque Hassan requested all to work together for the development of the sector as the industry is passing a very hard time. He said, “Despite various limitations, Bangladesh RMG industry has gained second position in the world by producing apparel items for renowned brands, this is a result of prolonged hard work from all the manufacturers who started making garments in the early 80s period to earn foreign currency.”
He mentioned “The journey of the RMG industry in Bangladesh was not easy to reach at 47 billion of export as today we see. It was rather challenging and very tough to survive throughout the decade’s problem where export cartoons also had to be imported from abroad. In this regard, Bangladeshi manufacturers promoted RMG subsectors like cartoon and accessories factory by sacrificing and comprising to be capable for industry’s support.”
“Along with contribution to the country’s economy RMG industry has given the women’s empowerment and made them financially strengthen for free will in marriage and so they now can contribute to their family”. He added further.
He shared his views with the audience regarding BGMEA’s role in the industry’s growth – “The role of BGMEA in the RMG sector is unbeatable for branding Bangladesh and gearing up the sector’s development. BGMEA established BGMEA University of Fashion & Technology (BUFT) to create expertise for the sector and innovation projects for fashion and ideas. Also, it has been closely working to improve the industry’s best practice with fair wages, safety, and sustainability.”
“We should more focus on high-end products with man-made fiber rather than run after low-value cotton base items as the country’s apparel export goes 75% on cotton and five basic items of products out of 200 items of export code,” he said while talking about product diversification.
Mentioning the sector’s challenges, he stated “Numeral challenges are remaining in the sector preventing the sector’s growths due to inadequate of power supply, field level bureaucracy and lack of proper policy support for long time sustainable business growth.”
He appreciated Textile Focus for organizing such an event which will help the young generation to be inspired to better the industry.
“Anything start-up, either a business or a job career seems very clumsy, challenging, and difficult but the self-confidence and hardworking possible to reach a successful position“. – Fazlul Hoque, Former President, BKMEA, Managing Director, Plummy Fashion Ltd.
Fazlul Hoque shared his experience of how he was inspired to manage a lead-certified factory. He also shared how he had a challenging task when 1st elected as BKMEA President to establish the organization, He said: “Anything start-up, either business or career in job seems very clumsy, challenging and difficult but by the self-confidence and hardworking possible to reach in a successful position.”
“We should develop our skills to be responsible and to be leaders for the respective post where currently we are working in the industry.“- Abdullah Hil Rakib, Director, BGMEA & Managing Director, Team Group
Abdulah Hil Rakib shared his journey to build today’s Team Group. He also urges personal skill development by saying “We should develop our skill to be responsible and to be leader for the respective post where currently we are working in the industry, especially for the mid-level management those are always kept behind and never been asked for improving skill and enhancing efficiency. The wage versus efficiency is also a very important issue to focus more on because we are still far behind 11 times than China which is considered as our competitor. So the competitiveness can be possible to keep on track by professional skill development.”
“The RMG sector has a severe need for leaders and expertise.“- Engr. Md. Shafiqur Rahman, President, ITET & Managing Director, Hams Group
Engr. Shafiqur Rahman inspired the young generation to be entrepreneurs. He said “Bangladesh RMG industry is now in a crisis due to some miscreants trying to stop the sector but industrial leaders along with its working force standing to tackle them as the previous time. He urged expertise and said ” Today RMG sector has a severe need for leaders and expertise. Because the new generation seems to be not properly preparing themself to run the industry for future. ” Giving special thanks to Textile Focus he said, ” The event ‘inspection’ will help to provide leadership skills as well as a new flat form for the next level of RMG expertise. “
Jalal Ahmed, Former Additional Secretary, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh and Senior Executive Director, Ha-Meem Group-
“Ha-Meem Group has a large contribution to the development of the textile industry. He emphasized the skilled development for the new generation of the industry. Day by day business is becoming competitive, we all must think out of the box to face any challenges with proper strategy and appropriate knowledge and skills.”
Shafiur Rahman, South Asian Operations Head, G-star Raw “Never go for a shortcut way to gain success in life because as human beings we should think about value in society and set goals for life and career. Long-time or short-time target missions are prerequisites to be successful and to achieve the dream. No success is achieved without proper effort and hard work. Still, we have a lot of things to develop in the industry.
Md. Nazmul Kabir Managing Director, Fashion Globe Group- “English language skill development is most important in this sector to boost a personal career as well as to maintain good industrial standards. Most of the time we talk about improving English efficiency for the merchandiser only in the sector but language development for mid-level management is considered not very important. So, we should practice day-to-day working communication in the English language.”
Helal Mohammed Nuri, CEO, SLG International- “We are targeting B100 USD export by 2030. To achieve the target, we must work with dignity and proper strategy. There is no alternative to growing this industry as we have a workforce and determination. I started my career at YongYang corporation, I tried my best to know the details of the operation and worked at BEXIMCO Group. I learned a lot in my initial career.”
Zarin Rashid, Director, TRZ Garments Industry Ltd- “As a representative of the second generation in the RMG industry, it was not so easy for me to stay motivated for the day-to-day industrial tasks that sometimes seemed not to be fit for the position. Without practical industrial knowledge, none can be successful in the RMG sector regardless of whether the background of the family or personal status may not help much.”
Davide Righi, Sales Director, Garmon Chemicals- “Sustainability is the topic here I would like to discuss with you all. Are we all sustainably managing our lives? We are defining sustainability in different contexts. This is overused at present. In the textile industry, we mean the process of our operation in a way so that we can sustain healthy and environmentally safe. That’s why Garmon is providing sustainable products for textile processing.
Part of the audience – professionals from various disciplines who are working in the sector including textile graduates attended the event by online registration.
Speakers from different buying houses, MNC country office, and factory top management shared their real-life experiences and how they faced the challenges at different stages of their careers. They shared the opinion that Bangladesh’s Textile and Garments industry is moving ahead toward sustainable development. Today’s textile graduates & and professionals are the driving force for tomorrow’s industry. There are so many developments and changes in the industry and so textile professionals feel confused about which way they should move on. Also, employers are always saying that they don’t get candidates with proper skills and attitudes.
Neyamul Hasan, Country Managing Director, Intertek Bangladesh expressed his pleasure to be associated with INSPIRATION as powered by a partner. He requested Textile Focus to organize such sessions frequently.
Mohammad Ashraful Islam, Editor, Textile Focus expressed his gratitude to all the distinguished guests, speakers, and sponsors. He expressed his happiness in organizing the first ever such motivational public speaking.
S. M. Sumo, CEO, of Glorious Tech BD presented the innovative technology of Yonghao Machinery. He requested all to use the latest innovative machinery for textile production..
INSPIRATION is an event to motivate the graduates/ professionals and guide how they should be prepared. In the session of the event, successful professionals and the owner will share their real-life experiences and expectations with the audience so that participants can get a light to walk rightly in the industry with the proper inspiration. This event was presided over by Mohammad Ashraful Islam Riyadh, Editor, of Textile Focus.
The event was sponsored by Garmon Chemical, Union Group, and powered by Intertek Bangladesh and Technology Partner Yonghao Machinery, local agent Glorious Tech BD Ltd. More than 100 participants from different factories, corporate houses, and universities joined the event. Participants shared their happiness in joining the event. The next INSPIRATION-02 will be held in February 2024.
