Vidiya is currently the Director of Desh Group of Companies of which Desh Garments Ltd. is the mother company. Desh Garments Ltd. is the first 100% export oriented RMG factory in Bangladesh and was set up in 1977 by her father, Late M. Noorul Quader by a joint venture agreement with Daewoo Corporation of South Korea. In 1978, 130 persons were sent to Daewoo’s factory in Pusan over a period of 6 months to receive both technical and corporate training, after which they returned to Bangladesh to set up the very first garments factory in Bangladesh. It was the very first time that women were sent abroad from Bangladesh for any such training program.
Quader was further responsible for formulating the Back to Back Letter of Credit Banking system and Duty Free Bonded Warehousing system in Bangladesh.
The Group are exclusive representatives of Electro Motive Diesel, U.S.A., supplying locomotives to Bangladesh Railway since 1975. They are also representatives of Buhler A.G. Switzerland (since 1978), working in the food milling and grain handling industries across the country. Desh further has its own packaging factory, clearing & forwarding logistics company, real estate holdings in Dhaka, Chittagong, Cox’s Bazaar and Mymensingh.
Vidiya happens to also oversee all those businesses but her main concentration is in the RMG factory and its operations.
She is currently a Director of the Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (2013 – till date), the Treasurer of the Switzerland Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industries (since 2011 – till date) and TiE Dhaka.
As of 22nd July, 2015, she has been selected to be on the Board of Advisors of Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety. The Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety was founded by a group of North American apparel companies and retailers and brands who have joined together to develop and launch the Bangladesh Worker Safety Initiative, a binding, five-year undertaking that will be transparent, results-oriented, measurable and verifiable with the intent of improving safety in Bangladeshi ready-made garment (RMG) factories.
Vidiya completed her higher education from Roedean School in Brighton, UK, and then went on to study law at King’s College London, UK. She completed her Bar Vocational Course from the Inns of Court School of Law, and qualified as a Barrister-at-Law in 2004.
Vidiya is on the executive board of a girl’s school in Mymensingh and is responsible for organising an annual nationwide art and literary competition for children as part of the M Noorul Quader Foundation. She is a member of the Honourable Society of Gray’s Inn, UK, the Army Golf Club, and several other recreational clubs in the count
Episode Details:
In this episode, we featured Vidiya Amrit Khan, Director of Desh. Vidiya shares how she got involved in the garment industry in Bangladesh, and how Desh has changed and is continuing to change the economy in Bangladesh. Vidiya also describes the gender gap in Bangladesh, and offers advice to women in executive business positions.
