Bangladeshi handicrafts get global recognition

Women make toys at a factory of Hathay Bunano, one of the four Bangladeshi entities recognised by the World Fair Trade Organisation. Photo: Hathay Bunano

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Four Bangladeshi handicraft producers and organisations have been certified as “guaranteed fair trade organisations” for meeting the growing demand for ethical and sustainable products.
Hathay Bunano, Thanapara Swallows Development Society, Prokritee, and Base Bangladesh got the recognition from the World Fair Trade Organisation (WFTO).
Set up in 2005, Hathay Bunano is well-known for making Pebble brand toys which are sold in 37 countries. It employs 8,000 disadvantaged women as artisans.
Thanapara Swallows exports its garments made of handloom fabrics to Japan, Denmark, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Finland and Sweden. It employs 250 people, according to Md Raihan Ali, executive director of the non-governmental organisation.
Base Bangladesh, also known as Bangladesh Shilpo Ekota, is a network that works for the promotion, marketing and distribution of handicrafts made by 17 producers' groups in Khulna region.
These groups employ more than 10,000 men and women. Their products are exported to Italy, Spain, the UK, Sweden and Japan. Prokritee supports more than 1,500 artisans in rural areas to make  goods from renewable sources of materials such as recycled sari, waste jute, silk, handmade paper, natural fibres and leaves.
The WFTO certifies organisations operating in any part of the supply chain -- from producers to retailers.
An entity needs to respect the international fair trade standards to be recognised as a guaranteed fair trade organisation.

The WFTO label, the first of its kind, was unveiled in Frankfurt, Germany yesterday.
With the fair trade label, consumers will be able to identify products in the international marketplace that meet high economic, social
and environmental sustainability criteria.
“There are no international public regulations for the certification of fair trade products. Private entities can deliberately set up their own criteria and certify a single product without considering the practices of the company that sells these products,” said Rudi Dalvai, president of the WFTO.
“That is why, it is of utmost importance to have a label that allows consumers to clearly identify the organisations who are 100 percent committed to fair trade,” he said in a statement.
“It's a big achievement for handicraft producers in Bangladesh,” said Samantha Morshed, founder of Hathay Bunano.
She said, for some years now there has been a labelling system for commodities such as coffee and chocolate. “It's great that the World Fair Trade Organisation is now introducing a label for handicrafts as well.”
The German organisation said, by buying products carrying the new label, traders and consumers can make a concrete contribution to creating a world that will fight poverty, social injustice and discrimination, and support economically disadvantaged small producers.
The principles of fair trade include creating opportunities for economically disadvantaged producers, transparency and accountability, no child labour, women's economic empowerment, and freedom of association.
At present, there are about 50 fair trade organisations around the world, according to the WFTO website.

Mini Mart celebrates 20 years in business

MA Mannan, state minister for finance and planning, and Rokia Afzal Rahman, chairman of MIDAS Financing, cut a cake to mark the 20th founding anniversary of Mini Mart chain shop at MIDAS Centre in Dhaka yesterday. Star

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Mini Mart, a chain shop set up and run by women entrepreneurs, yesterday celebrated its 20th founding anniversary.
It not only created market access for women but also fostered entrepreneurship and leadership.
The first Mini Mart, financed by MIDAS Financing Ltd, was set up in Dhanmondi in 1996.
The chain shop was established after Rokia Afzal Rahman, chairman of MIDAS Financing and one of the leading women entrepreneurs of Bangladesh, found that women in the city did not have showrooms to display the merchandise they made. They could only supply their items to markets such as New Market, Chandni Chowk and Gausia.
This prompted her to come up with the idea of setting up a chain shop so that women could display and sell their products easily and get better prices.
The first Mini Mart was set up in a rented building and MIDAS financed 18 women who supplied their products to the chain store. Initially, MIDAS helped women entrepreneurs in quality control and management. Later, full control was handed over to them.
Thanks to the success of the initiative, more branches were set up in Uttara, Gulshan and Bailey Road. In 2010, Mini Mart made a foray into the port city of Chittagong.
Currently, 35 women entrepreneurs are selling their products, such as garments, handicrafts and food through the five outlets. Every producer in the chain shop has a unique code, which helps each entrepreneur to get information about sales.
Speaking at the ceremony at MIDAS Centre in Dhanmondi, MA Mannan, state minister for finance and planning, said initiatives such as Mini Mart have become successful because of the hard work and efforts of the entrepreneurs. "All of you deserve plaudits from the society and the government," he added.
Reminiscing the days leading to the establishment of Mini Mart, Rokia said women doing business had to share a percentage of their profits with middlemen.
"So, we wanted to establish a system where the entrepreneurs will run the business, thus eliminating the role of the middleman. Today the Mini Marts are a huge success and bring profits for its sponsors."
She said many women entrepreneurs borrowed money from MIDAS Financing even 10 times and no one ever defaulted on their loans.
"The Mini Marts have helped entrepreneurs build a network among themselves as well as become leaders."
Hosne Ara Begum, co-chairperson of Dhanmondi Mini Mart, said women entrepreneurs were inexperienced but were able to ride out the challenges because of the support.
"The collateral-free loans gave us a lot of courage."
Shafique-ul-Azam, managing director of MIDAS Financing, said Mini Mart is a history of dedication of the entrepreneurs. "They have set up a model for others to follow."
Since inception, MIDAS Financing has lent Tk 222 crore among 1,500 women entrepreneurs, said Azam.
Women who started with Mini Mart have emerged as successful entrepreneurs in the country, he added.
Nasrin Ruba, an entrepreneur, said she along with some others has set up a resort in Gazipur, which is doing good business. Roushan Ara Mahmud, another entrepreneur, said she now supplies homemade food items to major department stores in Dhaka.

Banglalink shuts offices over labour protests

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Banglalink yesterday closed its headquarters and its regional offices as labour protests erupted after an employee fell ill during an interrogation by higher officials over a dispute.
“He was immediately rushed to hospital, but, unfortunately, some employees became emotional and gathered to express their concern,” Banglalink said in a statement. The employee, Md Mostaque, was taken to United Hospital.
In the light of the situation, the office was closed around 2pm yesterday, according to the statement. Banglalink is expected to reopen its offices today.
All the customer care centres were open and the closure had no impact on the services, Shihab Ahmad, chief commercial officer of Banglalink, said at a press conference.
The prickly situation between the management and employees started on February 11, when the operator discontinued the service of Shariful Islam, a senior manager and an engineer.
This had led to dissatisfaction among some of his colleagues.
A group of current and former employees and outsiders blocked the entrance to Banglalink's corporate office last Thursday.
Senior officials of the operator said Islam was engaged in activities that were not permitted under his employment contract with Banglalink. Banglalink did not explain what his fault was.
Ahmad said VimpelCom, Banglalink's Amsterdam-headquartered parent company, is currently undergoing restructuring and Islam's termination was part of the process.
Islam's termination was not because of his active participation in employees' union, he added.
“As we reshape Banglalink, we have implemented a voluntary separation scheme and will begin consultations with the staff who may be eligible,” said Banglalink, the second largest mobile operator in Bangladesh after Grameenphone.
Ujjal Pal, president of Banglalink Employees' Union, said: “We will continue the demonstration until Shariful Islam is reinstated.”
Earlier on Thursday, the agitated employees confined Perihane Elhamy, chief technology officer of Banglalink, to the headquarters in Gulshan over Islam's dismissal.
Elhamy, an Egyptian, was released nine hours later, after the police and the management assured the employees of looking into the matter. Subsequently, the union withdrew the demonstration.