With the aim of achieving sustainable and inclusive growth in the garment sector in Bangladesh, SwissContact and the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at the BGMEA office in Uttara, Dhaka on Monday (June 16, 2025).
The MoU will further strengthen cooperation under three key projects run by SwissContact. The projects are: 1) PROGRESS (Green Growth through Skills in the Apparel Sector), funded by the Embassy of Sweden and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), which supports green growth in the garment sector; 2) INSPIRE (Incentivizing Private Investment for Resource Efficiency), a project funded by the Embassy of Sweden, supports renewable energy and energy efficiency in the garment sector; 3) BYTES (Enhancing Youth Employment through Skills), a project funded by the Embassy of the Netherlands, works to increase youth employment through technical and soft skills training in the garment, agro-processing and ICT sectors. All three projects are dedicated to the development of the garment sector in Bangladesh and are operating in major industrial areas including Dhaka, Gazipur, Narayanganj and Chittagong.
The MoU will focus on skills development for women and youth, environmental and social compliance, clean energy adoption and sustainability to support factory-level transformation of the garment sector.
Speaking at the MoU signing ceremony, Ikramul H. Sohel, Senior Program Officer for Inclusive Economic Development at the Embassy of Sweden, Dhaka, said, “The Swedish government prioritizes strengthening gender equality in micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and the ready-made garment sector. We believe that this partnership between Swisscontact and BGMEA will translate these priorities into reality by bringing about meaningful, long-term change that benefits both workers and businesses.”
BGMEA Administrator Anwar Hossain said, “This MoU reflects our commitment to strengthening Bangladesh’s garment sector by increasing its competitiveness through innovation, workforce development and sustainability. We look forward to working with Swisscontact to drive sustainable change across the industry.”
Ishrat Fatema, Deputy Country Director of SwissContact Bangladesh, said, “We are delighted to join hands with BGMEA to make the garment sector more resilient, inclusive and environmentally sustainable. This partnership will help factories adopt green practices and ensure better livelihoods for workers, especially women.”
This partnership represents a major step towards building a greener, more inclusive garment industry, which will ensure continued economic growth in Bangladesh and help the industry maintain global sustainability standards.
Also present at the MoU signing ceremony were BGMEA’s newly elected Board Senior Vice President Enamul Haque Khan (Bablu) and BGMEA Support Committee members Asif Ashraf and Anam Saifuddin.
