On May 16th, 2011, WRAP held a grand opening ceremony for its new Dhaka office at the Hotel Sarina, Banani in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Over 150 dignitaries and honored guests attended the ceremony and celebration dinner. The Honorable Minister of Commerce, Mr. Md. Faruk Khan MP officially inaugurated the ceremony and expressed his hope that WRAP’s presence will help to improve the present labor situation in the country while giving buyers confidence to increase their purchases.



The Honorable Minister of Commerce, Mr. Md. Faruk Khan MP cut the ceremonial ribbon for the Grand Opening of the new WRAP office in Dhaka during a dinner at the Hotel Sarina.  Pictured from left to right are Mr. Shariar Alam, MP; Mr. Md. Shaiful Islam (Mohiuddin), President of the BGMEA; Mr. Steven Jesseph, CEO of WRAP; Honorable Minster of Commerce, Mr. Muhammed Faruk Khan MP; Mr. Avedis Seferian, Esq., Director of Compliance Administration of WRAP; Mr. Salam Murshedy, President, Exporters Association of Bangladesh; Mr. Saifullah Khawaja, WRAP Country Manager, and Mr. Al-Haj Habibur Rahman, 1st Vice President of BKMEA.

“Bangladesh has become an international powerhouse in the textiles and apparel sector,” said Steve Jesseph, CEO of WRAP. “As international brands and retailers increasingly rely upon our certification to meet their compliance needs, we wanted to have a local office to better serve the factories and management, and to provide a wider range of training services to benefit all factories in Bangladesh. We are investing in Bangladesh and plan to hire additional staff in the near term as we expand our certification program to the leather and footwear, automotive, pharmaceutical and ceramics sectors, and more,” he added.

Former BGMEA president and current president of the Exporters Association of Bangladesh, Mr. Salam Murshedy, welcomed the opening of the WRAP office in the country and said foreign buyers feel comfortable with factories which have WRAP certificates. “WRAP conducts rigorous compliance inspections and if a factory has the certificate, most of the buyers do not go through their own compliance inspection,” he said.

“We see tremendous potential for the growth of Bangladesh industry and look forward to working closely with our partners and stakeholders, and above all, the wide range of manufacturers,” said Avedis Seferian. “We are fully committed to Bangladesh. This is my 12th trip to Dhaka and Chittagong in the past three years,” he added. “I may have to take an apartment if I continue to travel here so often.”

Since 2000, WRAP has certified labor-intensive consumer products facilities in over 70 countries and currently has 187 facilities certified in Bangladesh.

Saifullah Khawaja has been appointed as the Bangladesh Country Manager.

WRAP Bangladesh Office
House 52 (Level 2), Road 13/C, Block E, Banani, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Tel: +880 17261 75879
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