The Government of Norway has intensified its efforts to strengthen the rights of those working in the garment and textile industry of Bangladesh. It wants to ensure that the textile industry is a safe workplaces with decent pay and good working conditions for both men and women.

Norway imports garments, textiles and other goods, which create thousands of jobs in developing countries. Norway’s import of garments from Bangladesh has increased over the past 10 years and is expected to rise further. The current Norway-Bangladesh textile and garment trade is estimated at one billion krone annually. 

The Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) has provided up to 14.3 million krone in funding for the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) to actively pursue programs to improve conditions for textile and garment workers in China, Vietnam, India and Bangladesh.

Courses under this initiative have already been developed for manufacturers in China, India and Vietnam, and NORAD is now extending its agreement with ETI to include Bangladesh as well. The objective of the NORAD initiative is to have 700 employers attend courses run by the ETI during the 2013-15 period.