Office for Environmental Programs - Theses
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ItemService Sector Development in Bangladesh: An Approach towards Environmental Sustainability( 2020)‘Made in Bangladesh’ is a globally renowned name in the ready-made garment (RMG) export market. However, this accomplishment comes with an exhaustive environmental footprint. The industry simultaneously pollutes surface water and depletes groundwater. Regardless of the overarching damage, RMG manufacturing industries continue to flourish in Bangladesh. Thus, concurrent challenges and limitations arise. These issues need to be overcome by broadening the scope of the service sector, while also reducing dependency on the cheap, labour-intensive RMG manufacturing industry. This study examines the extent to which Bangladesh must embrace the service sector and environmental sustainability to overcome the challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). This research focuses on why and how Bangladesh should concentrate on the service sector, despite it having a strong position in the competitive global RMG market. This study found that challenges to RMG are the result of a history of exploitation, as well as an existing dependency on abundant cheap manual labour. Furthermore, the application of Porter’s Diamond model in the study shows that the phase-out of Multifiber Arrangement (MFA) is another challenge associated with global competitiveness. Limitations on adopting automation and innovation in the industry have also been a major challenge, resulting in recent layoffs and declining orders. In addition, COVID-19, along with western efforts to reduce fast fashion consumption, has slowed down demand. The use of advanced technology would further result in significant changes to the labour market and the loss of manual labour jobs, adversely affecting the labour force, which predominantly comprises women. Although industrial automation has already begun in Bangladesh, a larger roll-out in the Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) sector is still required. To cope with the situation, seizing the advantage of an ongoing demographic dividend until 2040 and training the manual labour force to be adaptable, with both soft and hard skills, will help Bangladesh to meet the challenges of the 4IR and avoid an economic downturn. These initiatives would also contribute less to environmental degradation. Altogether, this thesis offers a holistic approach to unveiling the opportunities of service sector development to reduce pervasive environmental pollution in Bangladesh.