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Supplier Qualification Project (SQP)
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Key facts and figures:
► More than 5000 RMG factories in BD and rising.
► 78% of export earnings and 14% of GDP come from the RMG sector.
► 40% (3.6 M) of the industrial workforce or 5% of the total workforce is employed by the RMG sector.
► 80% of workers in the RMG sector are women.
► The RMG sector is a very vital sector for BD’s labour market (easy access to jobs for mostly unskilled labour) and economy.
► Violations of workers' rights are common; Government efforts to combat it is little effective. Private initiatives are needed.
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Today, Bangladesh (BD) is a major supplier of Ready Made Garments (RMG) to the world market. Unfortunately, difficult social and working conditions for many workers, increasing workers unrest and little care for the environment characterize the need for improvement. However this is slowly changing. Today buyers demand from manufacturers that goods are also produced under proper social, working and environmental conditions, or in other words, in a socially compliant way.
Many buyers in Europe and the US are requiring their suppliers in Bangladesh to become compliant with international social standards (such as, BSCI, ETI, SEDEX etc.). Swisscontact is implementing the Social Compliance project to support factories in becoming compliant with the most demanding social standards and the local laws. We are currently in the fifth phase of the project which started in 2008. Swisscontact has so far supported 80 factories, funded by GIZ IS. The factories supply to renowned buyers and are selected by the client.
Approach:
The Project supports the development and availability of local resources such as trainers cum consultants and training material on Social Standards, Productivity, Energy Efficiency and Waste Management. Representatives from the factories’ top management are sensitized towards the needs of Social Compliance and workflow improvement and their commitment to the Project is obtained and sustained; this is essential if a manufacturer shall be successful. A change management team comprised of management representatives from different divisions (such as, HR, Compliance, Production) and worker representatives are trained, guided on site and thus enabled to carry out the corrective actions at their premises in a self-sufficient manner over time and to ensure sustainability. To raise the level of confidence of the change management team at the factories in absence of the consultants a hot-line support is available that allows access to the consultants by phone, email or by visiting the Project office almost any time required.
Project Activities:
During the Project duration, Swisscontact conducts:
• Selection and training of trainers cum consultants
• Development of training material
• Kick off events for representatives of the factories’ top management and buying houses (agents)
• Workshops on Social Standards, Productivity, Energy Efficiency and Waste Management
• Factory on-site support missions and hot-line support sessions
Contact Details:
More information on the project can be obtained from:
Martin Dietschi, Project Manager (martin.dietschi@swisscontact.org.bd)
Mamunur Rahman, Deputy Project Manager (mamunur.rahman@swisscontact.org.bd)
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Bangladesh 
