Bangladesh Employers’ Federation (BEF), in collaboration with the Labour Administration and Working Conditions Cluster of ILO Country Office for Bangladesh, organized a roundtable discussion on “Responsible Business Conduct (RBC) and Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDD)” on 16 July 2025 at the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI), Gulshan Office, Dhaka. This initiative is supported under the Team Europe Initiative (TEI) – a joint effort of the European Union, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Sweden – on Decent Work in Bangladesh. The objective of the discussion was to identify key industry sectors for promoting RBC and HRDD principles and to facilitate dialogue among private sector representatives in this regard.
Mr. Farooq Ahmed, Secretary-General and CEO, BEF, welcomed the participants and emphasized the relevance of RBC and HRDD for the sustainability of the business ecosystem. Mr. Mahmudul Islam Khan, Senior Programme Officer, ILO Country Office for Bangladesh, delivered welcome remarks and shared the objectives of the discussion.
Mr. Omar H. Khan, Managing Partner and Head of the Chambers of Legal Counsel along with his team, delivered a presentation outlining the context, background, objectives, key components, and potential benefits of RBC and HRDD implementation. Following the presentation, participants were engaged in group discussions to identify three priority sectors in Bangladesh that could benefit the most from the adoption of RBC and HRDD practices. The participants, representing various business and sectoral associations, expressed strong support for advancing responsible business practices in their respective sectors.
Mr. Md. Saidul Islam, Additional Secretary-General, BEF, highlighted the key take-aways and outlined the way forward and concluded the session with a vote of thanks, acknowledging the contributions of all participants.
The discussion attracted a diverse group of 32 participants (Female-05 and Male-27) representing employers, corporate leaders and sectoral business associations including Agro, Leather, Pharmaceutical, ICT etc.
