Denmark is going to launch a strategic sector cooperation project on improving the health and safety of workers in Bangladesh by strengthening labor authorities. The three- year cooperation between the two countries aims at supporting capacity development of labor authorities focusing in particular on occupational safety and health in the readymade garment sector.

Bangladesh hopes to become a middle income country by 2021 and for that it’s necessary to improve the framework condition and productivity of the readymade garment sector in Bangladesh. The focus of the agreement is to ensure a better and more sustainable production in Bangladesh.

The cooperation also includes building two specialised hospitals for treating occupational diseases workers suffer from. Currently, 60 Danish companies are in operation in Bangladesh. Denmark has a great trade deficit with Bangladesh and it is interested in investing in renewable energy and the water sector.

Denmark feels that for the last two years there has been a strong focus on Bangladesh’s clothing industry, and rightly so, but that there are also other industries that are contributing to Bangladesh’s economy like the leather and shipbuilding industries and that have great potential.

Denmark is one of Bangladesh’s leading development partners that currently works in areas like water, sanitation, agriculture, human rights, and development sectors.