A strategic partnership agreement has been signed between Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and Wesley Bangladesh Limited to improve financial awareness, soft skills, workplace capabilities and overall well-being of workers in the ready-made garment industry of Bangladesh, a press release said.

Under this partnership, both the organizations will jointly implement the “Training the Trainers” (TTT) program, through which about 50,000 RMG workers will be trained in financial awareness, soft skills, workplace communication skills, leadership, work discipline and efficiency.

In the first phase of the program, BGMEA will select 50 member factories. Later, Wesley will provide training to the HR officers, trainers, line supervisors and relevant representatives of the selected factories through Training of Trainers (ToT) method. The trained master trainers will conduct the training of workers in their respective factories. The entire program will be implemented under the joint supervision and monitoring of BGMEA and Wesley.

The agreement signing ceremony was attended by BGMEA Vice President Md. Shihab Uddoja Chowdhury, Chairman of the Standing Committee on Skill Development Program Jabed Hossain Bhuiyan and Co-Chairman Jannatul Bakar Khan, Acting Secretary Major Md. Saiful Islam, PSC, CSCM (Retd.), Deputy Secretary and Section In-Charge (SDP) Sayla Akhter Nova and other senior officials of BGMEA were present on behalf of Wesley Bangladesh.

Group Managing Director of the organization Syed Noor Elahi, Vice President S. M. Jamshed Hasan, Head of Sales Azmi Kabir, Senior Manager (Business) Aditi Alam and other senior officials were present.

Speaking at the event, BGMEA Vice President Md. Shihab Uddoja Chowdhury said that enhancing the skills and ensuring the welfare of workers is very important for the sustainable development of the ready-made garment industry in Bangladesh. He emphasized on including small and medium garment factories in the pilot phase of this initiative so that the larger industry can benefit from this initiative.  May. He also called for more comprehensive programs in the future to improve the financial awareness, soft skills, productivity, work environment and overall welfare of the workers.

Syed Noor Elahi, Group Managing Director of Wesley Bangladesh, expressed deep optimism that this joint initiative with BGMEA will enable the development of a sustainable and effective skill development model in the ready-made garment industry of Bangladesh. He expressed his hope to work with BGMEA in the long term to ensure the financial capability, workplace efficiency and overall welfare of the workers.

Through this partnership, BGMEA and Wesley will work together to develop a skilled, financially aware, productive and future-ready human resource in the ready-made garment industry of Bangladesh. At the same time, the stakeholders expressed their optimism that this initiative will be established as a sustainable and scalable skill development model in the industry.