What does the label Made in Bangladesh conjure up in us? Probably the feeling that we're buying something that was produced under unfair conditions. Maybe we'll also wonder whether to steer clear of that label. Would that be doing the country a favor? Very definitely not: Bangladesh needs companies that buy in Bangladesh and vice versa.
The country depends on orders from abroad and must be competitive. The major brands that manufacture there can’t be generally condemned as exploitative. Of course they are part of the problem, but the fact remains that they're also a part of Bangladesh's development and its success story. The country is making very good progress. Following the collapse of the Rana Plaza building, it's probably the best inspected textile-producing country in the world. In the meantime its factories meet very high safety standards. Finally, let's not forget that Bangladesh's textile industry is only 30 years old.
What do the Bangladeshis themselves think about Made in Bangladesh? They might well say, “We're hard-working, enterprising people, with a huge labor force. We have
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potential. We're proud of Bangladesh, and the Made in Bangladesh label. We just don't know how we should sell ourselves.”
Made in Germany is regarded as a paragon, standing as it does for high quality. But let's remember that it was once a British warning label denoting poor-quality steel. Only over the course of the years has it emerged as a high-value brand. Bangladesh is currently moving along the same path.
Incidentally, only 30 % of all products manufactured in Bangladesh carry the label Made in Bangladesh. Which means we actually buy a lot of goods from the country, but without knowing it ...
