LightCastle Partners Organised an Exclusive Networking Session on “Stitching Tomorrow: The 2030 Outlook for Bangladesh’s RMG Industry” Under the Oporajita Phase 2 Initiative  

An exclusive networking session was hosted by LightCastle Partners on September 25, 2025, to welcome the H&M Foundation team and to mark the commencement of Oporajita Phase 2. The session created a collaborative platform for industry leaders, policymakers, and collective impact partners (CI) to exchange insights, raise concerns, and propose actionable solutions. Such initiatives reflect LightCastle’s continued commitment to fostering dialogue, advancing research, and driving transformative change in Bangladesh’s apparel sector. 

The networking session brought together esteemed stakeholders from government, industry, and development partners to address the critical challenges shaping the future of the RMG sector. Key concerns included the U.S. Reciprocal Tariff, the implications of Least Developed Country (LDC) graduation, limited market and product diversification, the transformative impacts of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, integration of Just Transition principles, and the urgent need for decarbonization.

The event, titled “Stitching Tomorrow: The 2030 Outlook for Bangladesh’s RMG Industry,” served as a central component of the Oporajita Phase 2 initiative, reinforcing the collective vision of building resilience and competitiveness in the apparel industry amidst global shifts. 

The session opened with a short video capturing the journey of Oporajita Phase 1 and the critical role played by LightCastle Partners in driving change alongside the collective impact partners. This was followed by an opening remark from Ainee Islam, Program Director, The Asia Foundation, who highlighted the objectives of Oporajita Phase 2 and underscored the importance of collaboration in ensuring a just transition for women workers in the RMG industry. 

Afterwards, Shoumik Shahriar, Senior Business Consultant and Project Manager, LightCastle Partners, delivered a presentation highlighting the crucial role of LightCastle Partners in achieving the core objectives of Oporajita Phase 2 through the Bunon 2030 initiative. He outlined a three-year roadmap on how LightCastle Partners aims to drive decarbonization and a just transition in the RMG sector through advocacy and collaboration with CI partners. 

To set the stage for broader discussions on the future landscape of Bangladesh’s RMG sector, Zahedul Amin, Co-founder & Managing Director, LightCastle Partners, presented “Framing the Tomorrow: 2030 Outlook of Bangladesh’s RMG Sector.” His presentation shed light on the impending headwinds facing the sector, including the U.S. Reciprocal Tariff, LDC graduation, decarbonization, renewable energy adoption, and Just Transition. 

Adding to the presentation, Amer Salim, Director of Knit Asia, joined as a distinguished speaker to share perspectives on the current outlook and roadmap to achieving sustainable growth in the RMG sector. He particularly highlighted the impending challenges posed by LDC graduation, the 4th Industrial Revolution, and the necessary strategies to navigate these transformations. 

Side by side, Mohammed Jabed Emran, Chief Risk Officer at Infrastructure Development Company Limited (IDCOL), shared his insights on sustainable financing and renewable energy integration. He emphasized how scaling financing mechanisms can accelerate the decarbonization of Bangladesh’s textile and RMG value chain, ensuring long-term resilience. 

Lastly, to wrap up this session, Saif Moinul Islam, Senior Programme Officer at the International Labour Organization (ILO), underscored the urgency of embedding Just Transition principles. He highlighted the importance of prioritizing worker safety, improving working conditions, and including workers in decision-making processes to promote inclusivity and wellbeing in the RMG sector. 

Before transitioning to the next session on regulatory and industry perspectives, an interactive open floor discussion followed, allowing participants to reflect on the presentations and share their insights. This exchange fostered deeper discussions and alignment on the pressing issues shaping the RMG sector. 

The regulatory session began with Vidiya Amrit Khan, Vice President of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), who highlighted the association’s ongoing initiatives to strengthen worker wellbeing and advance decarbonization. She emphasized the growing number of compliant factories under BGMEA’s guidance and outlined how the association is actively facilitating the transition toward safer, more sustainable industry practices. 

Adding to this discussion, Md. Matiur Rahman, Joint Inspector General at the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE), underscored the importance of prioritizing worker wellbeing in RMG factories. He noted that enhancing workers’ health and safety directly contributes to improved productivity and long-term industry resilience. 

Bringing in the global development perspective, Charlotte Brunnström, Program Director at H&M Foundation, emphasised the H&M Foundation’s overarching ambition of integrating decarbonization and Just Transition within Bangladesh’s RMG sector. She shared how initiatives like Oporajita are playing a catalytic role in ensuring that sustainable industry transformation keeps workers’ wellbeing at its core. 

This session concluded with the launch of an in-house publication developed by the project team, a policy brief on Corporate Power Purchase Agreements (CPPA). This publication underscored the immense potential of CPPA in mobilizing private sector financing for renewable energy adoption within Bangladesh. By combining financing innovations with enabling market mechanisms, CPPA can attract private investment, reduce reliance on fossil fuels, and safeguard the country’s export competitiveness in a rapidly evolving global market. Importantly, the policy brief also mapped out key regulatory gaps and identified critical market entry points for private sector players, including those in the RMG industry. 

Finally, the event concluded with a closing remark from Faisal Bin Seraj, Country Representative of The Asia Foundation. He emphasised the importance of such dialogues in bringing together relevant and esteemed stakeholders under one platform, reinforcing that collective action and shared insights are essential to driving systemic change and ensuring the RMG sector’s resilience, sustainability, and worker-centric growth under Oporajita Phase 2. 

To download our publications, visit: https://lightcastlepartners.com/bunon2030/#leadership