500+ professionals trained to help improve textile industry competitiveness in Bangladesh

With the aim to raise standards across the Bangladesh textile industry， nine local mills took to the stage at a recent seminar in Dhaka to share how they have enhanced their competitiveness by improving chemical management.

The Resource-Efficient Chemical Management seminar was the culmination of a two-year pilot program by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit （GIZ） GmbH， a German federal agency that promotes sustainable development around the world， and Huntsman Textile Effects， the leading global provider of high-quality dyes and textiles chemicals. The program included managerial and technical training， audit and consultancy services， and implementation support.

To date， GIZ and Huntsman Textile Effects have trained more than 500 professionals and workers as part of the project， which has also seen 20 local experts qualify to provide chemical management services in the sector. Participating factories have improved health and safety and enhanced their competitiveness by meeting the strict requirements of top international brands. Majority reported improved profitability by saving on dyes and chemicals.

Mr. Rodney Reed， Team Leader – Environment Component， GIZ Promotion of Social and Environmental Standards （PSES）， said， “This public-private partnership of GIZ and Huntsman has shown that improving chemical management is an effective way for textile mills to improve their profitability and success. We hope that other textile factories will follow the example of these nine trailblazers and take advantage of the opportunities open to them as this project expands.”

The nine pilot factories in the GIZ-Huntsman Textile Effects project were： Concept Knitting， Hamza Textiles， Esquire Knit Composite， HAMS Garments， Knit Concern， Purbani Fabrics， Robintex （Bangladesh）， Tarasima Apparels and Viyellatex.

Speaking at the seminar， Mr. Salim Akhtar Khan， Chief Fabric Operating Officer， Viyellatex， said， “Chemical management is essential in textile wet processing today. We applaud Huntsman and GIZ for bringing this initiative to Bangladesh and we would like to encourage more factories to join the program and see the results for themselves.”

The GIZ-Huntsman Textile Effects chemical management program included training for workers at the nine selected factories， which took place from June to August 2014. It also provided an in-depth， factory-specific report detailing recommendations and action steps. These recommendations were the result of comprehensive on-site factory audits， following the internationally recognized GIZ toolkit， Resource Efficient Management of Chemicals （REMC）， and Huntsmans Productivity Optimisation Plan （POP）， which has been successfully implemented by textile mills worldwide.

Factories took the initiative to implement the recommendations， with support from local Environmental Management System experts trained by GIZ and Huntsman Textile Effects. The two partners then conducted follow-up factory audits in early 2016 to identify the results of each facilitys chemical management programs.

Mr. Jay Naidu， Vice President， Strategic Marketing and Planning， Huntsman Textile Effects， said， “As a company that is committed to leading the transition to a more sustainable global textiles sector， Huntsman Textile Effects is very proud of what Bangladeshs textile mills are achieving through their hard work. With our partner GIZ， we believe that access to training and best practice in chemicals management will help mills be more successful and competitive， and support the development of Bangladeshs textile sector.”