Two Bulgarian companies- AntoanVill and Mizia-96AD – are recruiting 100 workers at a salary of $460 (Tk45,000) per month.

The recruitment process has already started under the supervision of the Bangladesh Overseas Employment and Services Limited (BOESL).

These companies are looking for proficient workers, especially swing machine operators, pressing machine operators and textile tailors, according to BOESL sources.

According to a recent report by the global consulting firm McKinsey & Company, global apparel brands and retailers have to ramp down RMG imports from Asian countries in order to sustain themselves.

“This is the first official move to recruit RMG workers from Bangladesh by any European country,” said Faruque Hassan, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).

Bulgarian firms took this initiative as most buyers want to source products from near-shore to reduce the lead-time – the time between the initiation and completion of a production process.

Among interested candidates, BOESL is taking vocational assessments every Friday at Bangladesh-Korea Technical Training Centre. Representatives from Bulgaria will select the final candidates through re-examination.

Bulgaria has a long history of being a centre of fashion in Eastern Europe. Located at the eastern edge of Europe, Bulgarian fashion manufacturing has been often compared to the high quality of its Turkish neighbours.