The GOTS Bangladesh seminar 2019 will be held at the International Convention City Bashundhara, Dhaka, Bangladesh on September 8. The theme of this year's seminar is 'Connecting for Success'. The seminar will bring together key players. Speakers to be included are representatives from brands, exporters, certifiers, chemical industry and other stakeholders.

In 2018, Bangladesh reached second position (after India) in terms of GOTS certified facilities in the country. This growth trend showcases the commitment of Bangladeshi textile industry in not only use of organic fibres, but also in environmental and social compliances. Fire and Building Safety are included in GOTS criteria and the country has made significant progress in all these areas, said GOTS in a press release.

'The RMG Times' of Bangladesh is the local organising partner for the event. The seminar agenda includes sessions on brands' perspective, market updates, technical compliance, risk assessment and so on. Speakers from Bangladesh and other countries will share their experiences in the field of sustainable textiles.

Given the great response from participants in the previous event, the event is being moved to a bigger venue this time which is the International Convention City Bashundhra (ICCB), Dhaka.

There will be 4 sessions tentatively going to be held on September 8.

The first session 'Connecting Sustainable Retail: Stories from Fashion Industry' will be moderated by Claudia Kersten, GOTS managing director, Germany. This session would bring forward the recent trends, priorities and experience of conscious buyers. The session shall include perspective from international brands & retailers, sourcing from Bangladesh. The speakers will be Bruno Van Sieleghem from Stanley and Stella SA, Belgium; Jan Moritz from Julius Hüpeden GmbH, Germany.

The second session 'Technical Criteria and Implementation' will be moderated by Rahul Bhajekar, GOTS managing director. The requirements for the standard have consistently been evolving to keep pace with technical research and market requirements. This session shall talk about latest criteria. It shall further present the experiences from implementation partners for technical aspects of the standard.

The third session will be 'Connecting on the Job: Workers and Management' to be moderated by Herbert Ladwig, policy and legal advisor, GOTS, Germany. This session will explore the working conditions at the garmenting (and other) factories in Bangladesh. The session shall connect important stakeholders in the field of social compliance and discuss pertinent issues. Panellists to be included are Amirul Haque Amin from National Garment Workers Federation (NGWF); Armanul Azim, from Tosrifa Industries Limited; Dr. Uttam Kumar Das, advocate, Supreme Court of Bangladesh; Abdul Mottaleb, CERES Bangladesh.

The fourth session will be 'Connecting Supply Chain Partners: Efficient Partnerships for Success' which will be moderated by Montashir Nahid, GIZ, Bangladesh. Coordination between supply chain partners is paramount to success of a complex supply chain like that of textiles. The sustainability standard landscape is steadily evolving and presenting new challenges. This session shall connect key supply chain partners and discuss their respective challenges and opportunities. Panellists to be included are Humayun Kabir from Zaber & Zubair Fabrics Ltd, Bangladesh; Sazzad Hossain from Fakir Knitwears Ltd, Bangladesh; Nandana Prasad Hettiarachchi from Pacific Jeans Ltd, Bangladesh; Naishad Desai from Britacel Silicones Ltd, India; Dr. Binay Choudhury from Control Union Certification, India. (PC)