Denmark and Bangladesh have launched the Strategic Sector Cooperation Project, which aims at improving the health and safety of workers in Bangladesh through the strengthening of labor authorities. The three-year partnership will especially focus on occupational safety and health in the readymade garment sector. The three main objectives of the project are capacity building of, in particular, the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments, improving effectiveness of inspections and raising awareness on occupational safety and health.

For three years labor inspectors of Bangladesh and Denmark will be working together to improve the health and safety of workers in the readymade garment sector. Bangladesh has taken a lot of initiatives to improve the situation with regard to worker safety, inspections, and workers’ rights, including trade unions.

So the country has laid emphasis on getting logical prices for its readymade garment products from international buyers. And international buyers are interested in paying an ethical price for the products. However Denmark has laid emphasis on better working conditions, saying ethical pricing of products and better working conditions cannot be compared and that better working conditions will ensure a better price, better productivity and a bigger market.

In fact, business in the readymade garment sector of Bangladesh is not going up. Rather it has decreased by 1.8 per cent in the last year.