Rapidly growing Bangladesh is critically dependent on its ready-made-garment (RMG) industry, but its long reliance on unskilled labor has led to declining competitiveness. Now there’s a revolution in factory productivity on the horizon that could revitalize the nation’s RMG sector, but it’s a double-edged sword.

The so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) will create countless opportunities for Bangladesh to increase the productivity of its most vital industry, but it could also leave women garment workers behind.

Kazi Faisal Bin Seraj, The Asia Foundation’s country representative in Bangladesh, touched on the human element behind STITCH for RMG:

"The thing that stood out for me in the pitches is how the applicants used empathy to create their solutions. It is not just the technology behind the innovations, but rather how it is appropriate in a context, in a gender-sensitive manner. I think that this empathy can be felt in all these programs."

Learn more in blog post by Shuprovo Arko, Consultant The Asia Foundation about the pressing need to accelerate gender equity in the Bangladesh garment industry.