Apparel sector trade bodies- BGMEA and BKMEA- will introduce a wage app that will help local garment factories to negotiate better price with buyers keeping the floor costs, mostly wage and other benefits of workers, in mind.
In this connection, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) in collaboration with STITCH Consortium organised on Saturday a workshop, styled "Fair Price App and Logical Price Negotiation with Brands".
The workshop held at the BKMEA office in the city, demonstrated the app developed by Fair Wear Foundation (FWF) and discussed how the app can support factories in Bangladesh to negotiate price better by using it.
Presided over by BKMEA's chief executive officer Sulav Chowdhury, the workshop was attended by FWF country manager Bablur Rahman and representatives from both the trade bodies.
The move came as part of BGMEA and BKMEA's previous effort to set minimum benchmark price and manufacturing cost of readymade garment (RMG) items to ensure ethical prices from global buyers and tackle unhealthy competition among local manufacturers.
The two trade bodies earlier in January last formed a 15-members joint committee to set a formula for the minimum price benchmark.
When asked, BKMEA vice president Fazle Shamim Ehsan said the app will help member factories calculate their floor costs mostly when wages are enhanced and other benefits provided to them (workers).
They can also bargain with their respective buyers better as they would know the production cost of an item including the wage issues which usually are not considered in times of negotiation, he explained.
"Thus a factory will able to negotiate with its buyers and ask a fair price," he told the FE on Saturday.
"FWF has already developed the app and offer us to use it and they also want to benefit from the service," he said.
Industry insiders said during and before the pandemic, many manufacturers received work orders below their production costs from buyers mainly to run their businesses and pay workers' wages, triggering an unhealthy competition among the local makers.
The BGMEA and BKMEA, in recent months, also recommended their members to be cautious about pricing and take into consideration high raw material prices, especially those of cotton and yarn and other logistic costs after work orders flooded in Bangladesh, they mentioned.
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