Mr. Ibnul Wara

Managing Director,
Austan Ltd

Mr. Wara is the Managing Director of Austan Ltd., Director- Aus Bangla Jutex LTD, and Director of Business Development & Supply Chain- Picard Bangladesh Ltd. He is also Convenor of the Standing Committee on Marketing at Leathergoods And Footwear Manufacturers & Exporters Association of Bangladesh (LFMEAB) and a key member of BLLISS Organising Commitee. 

A graduate in Accounting and Business Economics from The University of New South Wales, Mr Wara’s journey in the leather sector began in 2010. He is an avid advocate for Sustainability, and leads by example through upholding exemplary compliance standards in the leather sector.

Ms. Deborah Taylor

Managing Director,
Sustainable Leather Foundation (SLF)

Ms. Taylor is the Managing Director of the Sustainable Leather Foundation (SLF), a not-for-profit Foundation, set up in July 2020, specifically to support the leather industry to become more sustainable. Having created the innovative SLF Transparency Dashboard™, the first of its kind in the leather industry, Ms. Taylor is passionate about providing the right environment for transparent and verifiable information that gives confidence to consumers while protecting the commercial integrity of the individual organizations along the value chain. Prior to setting up SLF, from 2015 to 2020, she managed the Leather Working Group (LWG). Since April 2020, Ms. Taylor has also worked as a Consultant for the UNECE on the project to “enhance traceability and transparency for more sustainable value chains in the garment and footwear sector”. A practitioner member of the Chartered Quality Institute and a certified SA8000 lead auditor, she also serves as a Council Member for the Society of Leather Technologists and Chemists.

Mr. Werner Lange

Coordinator,
GIZ Textile Cluster Bangladesh,
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH

Since 2017, Mr. Lange has been working as a Coordinator for the portfolio of GIZ projects based in the RMG sector in Bangladesh. The portfolio oversees several local projects which are financed by the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). Mr. Lange brings more than 30 years of management experience in European fashion chains, including manufacturers and retailers. He worked at several top management-level positions in Germany. In 2014, he joined GIZ as head of the secretariat of the BMZ driven initiative ‘Partnership for Sustainable Textiles’ (PST) in Germany before taking over the coordination of the textile project portfolio in Bangladesh in 2017.

Mr. Carl Flach

Supervisory Board Member,
Leather Naturally and Senior Director Operational Strategies,
International Tanning Group, ISA TanTec

Since graduating from the West German Tanning school in Reutlingen in 1986, Mr. Flach has gathered a lifetime of experience in the hide, leather and shoe industry. Since 2007, he has worked as COO and later as Snr. Director for Operational Strategies for the Global ISA Group. Since 2017, Mr. Flach has been an elected member of LWG’s Technical Sub Group, working on protocol development and changes. Since 2021, he has been an active member of The Supervisory Council of Leather Naturally (LN).

Mr. Sandeep Das

Regional Managing Director – South Asia, and President – Global Softlines and Hardlines, Intertek

Business leader with close to three decades of experience across South Asia, the Middle East, and Europe, Mr. Das has worked with globally respected organizations in both B2B and B2C spaces.He has spent 11 years in Intertek in a variety of Country and Regional leadership roles and is currently the President of Intertek’s Global Softlines and Hardlines businesses and the Regional Managing Director for Intertek South Asia.

Mr. Hasnat Md. Abu Obida Marshall

Managing Director, maf Shoes Ltd and maf Footwear Ltd,
Director, T.K Group of Industries

Mr. Hasnat Marshall is a young entrepreneur. He entered into shoe business immediately after his graduation and sat-up a widely integrated shoe manufacturing facility, maf Shoes Ltd, in 2007 infusing local talents and overseas technicians. Under his visionary leadership, maf has become the leading Sports Shoes manufacturer in Bangladesh contributing major share in remittance bucket. Mr. Marshall was immediate past Director of Chattogram Chamber of Commerce and Industries, founder Director of Bangladesh Center for Excellence of CCCI and is closely involved with LFMEAB’s initiatives as a director of the association. Apart from Shoes, he is passionate in agri business, sports, travelling and evolving technologies.

Mr. Mir Ehsanul Huq

Commercial Director,
Amann Bangladesh Ltd

Mr. Huq is a Commercial Director at Amann Bangladesh, a sister concern of AMANN Group Germany.
Since 2013, he has been working in a strategic position under the Sales & Marketing Department of AMANN with a key portfolio – AMANN market penetration, brand establishment, sales strategy formulation, sales team establishment, securing PNL, and business expansion etc. From 1997 – 2012, Mr. Huq also worked in Coats Bangladesh Limited, sister concern Coats PLC, UK. He received his M. Com in Finance & Banking from Dhaka University. Mr. Huq also received advanced training in Strategic Marketing & Negotiation Skill and Industrial Marketing Strategies from IMM Kolkata, India among others.

Dr. Silvia Popp

Project Manager,
GIZ

Dr. SILVIA POPP is the project manager for the Social Protection project of GIZ. She has been in Bangladesh since late 2017. Prior to her current work in Bangladesh, she had experience in Pakistan and India. Dr. Popp is an expert in social protection and has a PhD in economics.

Ms. Amrita Makin Islam

Director, LFMEAB & Deputy Managing Director, Picard Bangladesh Limited

Ms. Islam has been working in the sector for the last 15 years and has extensive experience in the journey of the sector over the last decade. She has been involved in many key development projects in the sector and is an avid advocate of the importance of female participation in managerial positions in Bangladesh. Ms. Islam is on the board of LFMEAB and is a key BLLISS committee member.

Panelist I

Mr. Md Abdur Rahim Khan

Additional Secretary (Export), Export Wing
Ministry of Commerce

My final degree is MSc. in Public Economic Management & Finance from the University of Birmingham, UK in 2005 and before joining the Bangladesh Civil Service in 1995 earned BA (Honors) and MA from the University of Dhaka in 1990 and 1991 respectively. Over twenty years of work experience in the Government of Bangladesh have worked extensively in the Upazila (Sub-District), District, and Division level field administrations in various capacities. In the central Government administration, contributed a lot in making policy decisions during my tenure at the Ministry of Information, Planning Commission and Ministry of Finance.

My interest in Public Finance Management, Governance Reforms, Local Governance, and Rural Development including issues related to land administration and land management encouraged much to be associated with various Public Finance Management (PFM) reform initiatives especially in areas related to National Budget preparation and it’s execution under the Medium-Term Budget Framework (MTBF).
In addition to basic professional training in the country also been trained in International Monetary Fund (IMF), The World Bank, The Asian Development Bank (ADB), Asian Institute of Development Studies, and other public finance management institutes at home and abroad. Fortunate enough joining as a Panel Discussant in different seminars at home and abroad and various training institutes like Bangladesh Public Administration Training Center (BPATC), Police Staff College, Financial Management Academy (FIMA) and Public Finance Foundation (PFF) etc.

Mr. Michael Roy

President,
Manufacturing and Operations of Advanced Manufacturing Group, (AMG)

Mr. Roy started his footwear and supply chain career late. After several years in biotech manufacturing, he took a chance and moved to Asia where he has spent the last 20 years as a student of the supply chain game. Starting off as the product development manager for Callaway Golf Footwear, Mr. Roy has succeeded in working his way up the ladder to his current role overseeing all Asia manufacturing and operations.
Since his arrival in 2004, AMG has expanded from its sole location in Dongguan, China to producing footwear in three regions of China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia and Bangladesh.At the same time, the company has experienced nearly 10-fold growth. The key to further expansion lies in unlocking untapped resources in countries like Bangladesh.

Mr. Lien Chun Yao (Jim)

Managing Director,
Blue Ocean Footwear Limited

Mr. Lien Chun Yao worked more than 11 years on shoes business. He has over 10 years’ experience as a Branding & International Strategic Market leader of Greenland International Ltd. He also specialized on for Branding & Marketing of Lady Fashion, Ladies, Men, Kids, Lifestyle & Sneaker.