Li & Fung lays out US$10m on fire safeguards
Firm spends money to upgrade firefighting equipment in Bangladeshi clothing factories
The blaze last year that killed more than a hundred factory workers in Bangladesh has prompted Li & Fung to spend US$10 million upgrade the firefighting equipment in the Bangladeshi factories that make clothing for the firm.
As well as upgrading firefighting gear, it also spent money on measures to minimise fire hazards in factories that have contracts with Li & Fung, the company's chief executive, Bruce Rockowitz, said after the annual shareholders' meeting in Hong Kong yesterday.
A fire that broke out in a garment factory in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, in November, killed 112 people.
Bangladesh has become Li & Fung's second-largest manufacturing base, and the firm does not have any plans to move from the country, Rockowitz said.
A fire and building safety accord for the country is under negotiation, led by the International Labour Organisation, trade unions and other lobby groups.
Bangladesh has become the world's second-largest exporter of clothing, as an increasing number of factories migrate there for cheaper labour and land than in China, currently the largest exporter of clothing.