The Best of Bangladesh event, which is free to attend but by registration only, has been organised by the Bangladesh Apparel Exchange (BAE), with support from the Embassy of Bangladesh, Ministry of Commerce and EPB and in Association with PDS.

The aim of the event is to represent the country as a global leader in terms of innovation, sustainability and driving positive change in the apparel sector.

It also hopes to create a platform for apparel suppliers in Bangladesh to showcase the inspiring progress and abundant potential across diverse sectors of the nation's economy, particularly manufacturing.

The event gathers more than 35 companies from various fields, including apparel, textile, agriculture and handicrafts. It features panel sessions on topics such as Bangladesh's emergence as an economy, sustainable sourcing, garment workforce wellbeing, agro-food collaboration, impact investing, a circular economy and digitisation.

There will be six interactive panel sessions at the event:

• Bangladesh – Perspectives From An Emerging Economy
• Bangladesh - Your Sustainable Sourcing Destination
• Empowering the Future: Advancing Safety & Well-being for Garments Workforce in Bangladesh
• Bangladesh Agro-Food: A Next Opportunity for Collaboration
• Impact Investing - The Next Frontier
• Sustainable Synergy: Circular Economy, Climate Action and Bangladesh’s Future
• Digitisation and Digital Economy in Bangladesh.

There will also be an exclusive networking dinner, two immersion visits, food bazaar, art expositions and handcrafting. A VR tour is set to take all visitors on an exciting journey across “Sundorban” and the world’s longest Sea beach “Cox’s Bazar”.

Another key attraction is the Bangladesh Innovation Runway, which will be held on 4 September and presented by Pacific Jeans.

Earlier this month (August) Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) president Faruque Hassan suggested innovation along with responsible and sustainable business practices were the driving factors behind the growing popularity of Made in Bangladesh garments.

He explained that Bangladeshi garment factories have been making considerable efforts and investments in maintaining workplace safety, upgrading their production capabilities, especially for manufacturing more complex and high-value items and improving in the area of environmental sustainability.