About $929 million has been estimated to be needed for fixing the identified flaws in Bangladesh's readymade garment (RMG) factories assessed by the three initiatives, according to a report released recently. Fire, electrical and structural integrity in some 3,778 garment factories has been assessed by Accord, Alliance and National Initiative.

According to the report, the last two years have seen remediation activities begun in earnest, reducing the remaining remediation costs to around $635 million with $262 million in structural, $201 million in electrical and $171 million in fire related issues. It was estimated that over the last two years, remediation activities worth some $ 294 million have been carried out in Bangladesh's RMG sector through actions Accord, the Alliance and individual factory owners.

The study also included a review of Bangladesh's banking sector and the credit facilities recently developed by international organisations such as IFC, JICA, AFD and USAID, which have made available some $ 187 million specifically for RMG remediation.

The report titled ‘Remediation financing in Bangladesh's Ready Made Garment Sector: An Overview’ revealed that the total remaining financing gap for factory remediation is around $448 million. The report was jointly commissioned by International Finance Corporation (IFC) and International Labour Organisation (ILO) to assess the cost of safety remediation for structural, electrical, and fire safety work in RMG factories, as well as the ability of factories to finance these works.