Bangladesh’s textile manufacturers’ federation, the BGMEA, has announced a major partnership with Digital Bridge Partner, a specialist in B2B ecosystems. The project aims to harness AI to bolster traceability and competitiveness in local industry.

The initiative is set to roll out a Digital Factory Passport (DFP) across Bangladeshi factories, serving as a social and environmental compliance framework for manufacturers. In particular, it is intended to streamline brand-commissioned audits, which the textile sector often describes as time-consuming.

“The DFP will serve as a unified digital tool to streamline factory-level data management and reporting, reduce audit fatigue and enhance the efficiency of monitoring sustainability performance,” said the federation.

According to Mahmud Hasan Khan and Vidiya Amrit Khan, the BGMEA’s president and vice-president respectively, the collaboration should help make Bangladesh a leading destination for brands seeking to source garments produced with respect for both the environment and for workers.

The stakes are high for the country, which has ultimately been subjected to a 20% tariff at the US border by Donald Trump. The US ranks Bangladesh among its leading apparel suppliers, third after China and Vietnam. The country is also the European Union’s second-largest supplier of textiles and clothing.

This position was secured thanks to low wages, while its main competitor, China, raised its minimum wage in the early 2010s. However, this paradigm leaves Bangladesh highly dependent on its textile sector, which accounts for 80% of exports and 20% of GDP, and provides four million direct jobs.

In 2024, the US imported $7.5 billion of Bangladeshi textiles and clothing, ranking the country behind China, Vietnam, and India among its leading suppliers. In the same year, the EU imported €4.3 billion of Bangladeshi textiles and clothing.