Dhaka, Bangladesh, December 5, 2018
—International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, today said PaCT II – the second edition of the successful Partnership for Clean Textile – has concluded its first year with seven organizations joining the campaign, along with the long-term partner, the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).
PaCT II – IFC’s multi-stakeholder partnership to drive sustainability in Bangladesh’s textile sector – aims to work with more than 200 factories to adopt state-of-the-art efficiency and cleaner production practices to reduce water, energy, and chemical use across the textile value chain. Five textile brands have already come on board in the first year: VF Corp, PUMA, Levi Strauss & Co, TESCO, and GAP Inc. Jeanologia and Omera Solar have joined the campaign as technology providers.
Started in January 2018, with support from the governments of Denmark, Australia, and The Netherlands, PaCT II seeks to save 10.9 billion liters of water and 1.3 million megawatt hours of energy every year. In the process, there will be 241,160 tonnes of green-house gases and 10,000 tonnes of chemical use avoided every year.
The successful first edition of PaCT, which ran from 2013 to 2017, helped save 21.6 billion liters of water every year, which is the average annual water use for 840,000 people in Bangladesh. The participating factories also saved 2.5 million megawatt hours of energy each year – equivalent to 5.4% of total national grid output of Bangladesh in 2015-16.
“In Bangladesh, the textile manufacturing sector remains a strategic area of focus for IFC. Our advisory program, PaCT, has made a significant impact on changing the landscape of the sector through greater awareness of resource efficiency, and better adoption of efficient technologies and manufacturing processes. We are working towards creating markets for greener investments,” Rana Karadsheh, IFC Director for Manufacturing, Agribusiness & Services for Asia, said at an event to present the progress of the program and discuss innovative business solutions critical for the industry to remain competitive.
Bangladesh is the second largest apparel exporter in the world, next only to China, according to the World Trade Organization. Apparel exports account for 80 percent of the country’s exports and 12 percent of its gross domestic product.
“The BGMEA is happy to be a partner of IFC. We are proud to say that Bangladesh not only has the most transparent garment industry, it is also one of the most sustainable garment industries in the world,” said Miran Ali, Director of BGMEA and the Managing Director of Bitopi Group.
The event consisted of panel discussions on emerging concepts in the industry such as circular economy and rooftop solar PV opportunities. Speakers included Wendy Werner, Country Manager-Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal, IFC; Winnie Estrup Petersen, the Honorable Ambassador of Denmark; Harry Verweij, the Honorable Ambassador of the Netherlands to Bangladesh; Jane Hardy, Second Secretary, Australian High Commission; Tania Lozansky, IFC Senior Manager for Manufacturing Agribusiness and Services, and Nishat Shahid Chowdhury, Program Manager of PaCT.
The second phase of PaCT will significantly increase the scope of the program by working with the entire textile value chain from spinning to the final finished product.
About IFC
IFC—a sister organization of the World Bank and member of the World Bank Group—is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. We work with more than 2,000 businesses worldwide, using our capital, expertise, and influence to create markets and opportunities in the toughest areas of the world. In fiscal year 2018, we delivered more than $23 billion in long-term financing for developing countries, leveraging the power of the private sector to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org
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