Page 12 - TEXtalks November/December 2021

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Sweden & CPD team up for green

apparel initiatives in Bangladesh

The Sweden embassy in Dhaka and the Centre for desh is committed to securing sustainable econom-
Policy Dialogue (CPD) have united to enable a green ic growth, and so ensuring environmental compli-
transition in Bangladesh’s readymade garments ance in the industrial sector can help the country
(RMG) industry. The Sweden and CPD partnership achieve its goals in this regard.
will also ensure a ‘just transition’ in the apparel
sector, meaning that an array of social mediations RMGs are the finished textile product from clothing
will be made to protect workers’ rights and increase factories, and the Bangladeshi RMG sector is one of
their livelihoods. Christine Johansson, Head of the fastest-growing sectors in the Bangladeshi
Development Cooperation at the Swedish embassy, economy. In the fiscal ending June 30, 2021,
and Fahmida Khatun, Executive Director of the CPD, readymade garment exports from Bangladesh
recently signed the agreement on behalf of their increased by 12.55% to $31.456 billion compared to
respective parties at the Swedish embassy. exports of $27.949 billion in the previous fiscal.
However, this value was lower than $34.133 billion
The project’s key aim is to facilitate climate-neutral exports made during July-June 2018-19. Such green
growth and create productive employment opportu- initiatives can save the environment and boost
nities for women and youths in the country. Bangla- exports.

China's ports handled 1.32 billion

tons of cargo, recovering after the

COVID-19 pandemic

According to the data released by the ministry of China's container shipping sector registered
China, the Chinese ports collectively handled 24.52 steadfast growth this year amid headwinds from the
million TEUs and 1.32 billion tons of cargo. Cargo COVID-19 pandemic and container shortages,
throughput registered a growth of 7.8% year-on-year, indicating the country's robust foreign trade and
and container throughput witnessed a growth of 8.4 economic resilience. The effect of cargo charges is
% year-on-year between January and October 2021. directly evident on textile commodities. The recovery
of the global economy is threatened by high freight
rates, which are likely to continue in the coming
Container and cargo throughput at China's ports months, according to UNCTAD. The high rates will
grew consistently, and the country's ports collectively also impact low-value-added items such as
handled 12.87 billion tons of cargo. In contrast, the furniture, textiles, clothing, and leather products,
total container throughput was 235.48 million whose production is often fragmented across
twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) during the first low-wage economies well away from major
ten months of this year, as per the Ministry of consumer markets; the UNCTAD predicts consumer
Transport. price increases of 10.2% on these.

November/December 2021