Swedish retail giant H& Mrecently assured its garment suppliers of taking shipment of goods that have already been manufactured. "We will stand by our commitments to our garment manufacturing suppliers by taking delivery of the already produced garments as well as goods in production," said
H&M in a statement. It did not mention any particular supplier.
"We will, of course, pay for these goods and we will do it under agreed payment terms. In addition, we will not negotiate prices on already placed orders," H&M said.
"We will start placing orders again as soon as the situation allows," the company added.
This has come as a big relief to many Bangladeshi exporters as H&M sources garment and textile items worth nearly $4 billion from more than 230 Bangladeshi factories annually, according to a
Bangla newspaper report. Meanwhile, 1,025 factories have reported cancellation of 864.17 million units of work orders worth
$2.81 billion, according to the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).
H&M assured to utilize all its networks and contacts to find solutions that can contribute in the best possible way.
Meanwhile, BGMEA plans to manufacture at least 20,000 personal protective equipment (PPE) for donation.