PROSPECTS FOR ECONOMIC DIVERSIFICATION IN BANGLADESH · Bangladesh’s history, social protection,...

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Roundtable discussion with: Mushtaq Khan, Professor of Economics, SOAS, Jeff

Kenner, Professor of European Law, Nottingham University, Deepta Chopra,

Research Fellow, Institute of Development Studies, Kazi Nurmohammad Hossainul

Haque, Advisor, ActionAid, Lila Caballero, Policy Advisor, ActionAid, Antonio

Andreoni, Lecturer in Economics, SOAS will chair the event

Organised by the SOAS Economics Department, Industrial and Development Policy

Research Cluster (SOAS IDP) jointly with ActionAid.

10 March 20166.00-8.00PM

Venue: Athlone Room, Senate House, University of London

As the only NGO involved in drafting Bangladesh’s new

Five Year Plan, ActionAid has built strong relationships

with Bangladeshi businesses in emerging

sectors. In a recent report, the NGO draws

from interviews with these businesses and

its longstanding work with garment workers

to explore challenges and opportunities

for the economic diversification of

Bangladesh. This seminar will set the

report’s findings in the context of

Bangladesh’s history, social protection,

industrial policy in the 21st Century

and initiatives like the European Union’s

Sustainability Compact.

BEYOND GARMENTS

PROSPECTS FOR ECONOMIC DIVERSIFICATION IN BANGLADESH

Bangladesh’s garment industry now employs

around 4 million workers and accounts for 84%

of the country’s exports. But events like the

Tazreen factory fire in 2012 and the collapse of

Rana Plaza one year later made garment workers’

inhuman working conditions glaringly obvious.

The country’s over-reliance on garments has led

to neglect of other industries. Job opportunities

outside the garment sector are limited – women

are particularly stuck. The prospect for upgrading

into higher-value added activities within global

value chains is poor. Bangladesh urgently

needs to diversify its economy, moving away

from garments and into higher value-added

manufacturing. But how?