Launching Ceremony of the Textile Sustainability Platform (TSP)
June 26, 2016
Bangladesh Partnership for Cleaner Textile (PaCT) officially launches the Textile Sustainability Platform at the city’s Lakeshore Hotel, on June 26, 2016. The Textile Sustainability Platform (TSP) is a national-level dialogue program, established to address resource use efficiency, and environmental sustainability of the textile sector in Bangladesh.
The platform aims to establish the social capital for dialogue between the public and the private institutions, by convening stakeholders related to the textile sector to work collectively towards lowering sectoral barriers, and improving the policy and regulatory framework. The TSP operates through Working Groups (WGs) that focus on policy and regulations, voluntary actions by industry, and access to finance. Members of these WGs include textile factories, leading global brands, industry associations like the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA), BKMEA, civil society, and government agencies.
Based on a series of deliberation of the WGs, with support from Policy Research Institute (PRI), the platform, to date, has proposed several recommendations to the relevant government authorities for their consideration. “That the government has developed a US$ 200 million worth Green Transformation Fund (GTF), lowered customs duty on a number of eco-friendly goods, and raised taxes on three hazardous chemicals (azo dyes, organotin compounds, and chlorophenols) are promising moves from their part in encouraging the use of environment-friendly goods and in recognizing the role of the TSP in promoting sustainable practices in the textile sector,’ said Mohan Seneviratne, Program Manager, PaCT, in his welcome speech.
At the event, Dr Ahsan H. Mansur, Executive Director of PRI presented the terms of reference for the Textile Sustainability Platform, where the scope of work of the TSP and its progress to date, and the underlying issues and challenges ahead of the TSP were shared and identified, respectively. Recognizing the strategic roles of BGMEA and BUILD in the Bangladesh textile sector, the TSP members collectively agreed on the decision for the TSP to be co-chaired by the two institutions, for the interim.
Members from textile factories, H&M, industry associations including BGMEA and BTMA, the Policy Research Institute (PRI), the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), UNIDO, GIZ, and banks were also present at the event. “BGMEA has always been an active partner of Bangladesh PaCT. Through the Textile Sustainability Platform, together we can address the issues pertaining to the textile wet processing sector, and support the industry as a whole to develop policies that are sustainable, eco-friendly, and cost effective,” expressed Mr Faruque Hassan, Senior Vice President, BGMEA.