U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy R. Sherman said that international clothing buyers, especially those in the United States, play a vital role in ensuring the safety of Bangladeshi garment workers.
Fatal accidents occur frequently in Bangladeshi factories. The collapse of a building containing a garment factory last month killed 1,130 people, which has attracted global attention to safety issues in the country’s garment industry.
“Buyers absolutely play a vital role and have a responsibility when it comes to labor issues,” Sherman told a news conference in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh.
In the face of the Rana Plaza collapse in the suburbs of Dhaka on April 24, Western retailers and various brands are assessing the safety risks of thousands of garment factories in Bangladesh.
Sherman said foreign companies should not give up on Bangladesh.
“We hope that international investors will not give up on Bangladesh because the solution to the problem is reform, not withdrawal,” she said.
Sherman said the United States is working with domestic companies that purchase clothing from Bangladeshi factories to ensure that they support better safety inspections of Bangladesh’s clothing industry.
