Bangladesh Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed has urged global buyers and retailers to increase pay-rates for sourcing readymade garments from Bangladesh, to help the garment sector expedite compliance of workers' safety norms as per International Labour Organisation's standards.He said, the government has recently increased workers' wages by around 77 per cent, and the process of inspection of over 4000 factories was going on, and huge funds would be required for remediation. The Minister was addressing a views-exchange meeting in the capital last evening with representatives of European Union backed Alliance of Bangladesh Workers's Safety, and US backed Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety, two platforms set up after the Rana Plaza collapse last year in which over 1000 garment workers died. The Minister further said that Bangladesh has put behind political instability and is back on business-friendly track. He urged Bangladeshi factory owners and foreign buyers to work together to improve workers' safety and productivity.The RMG sector employs over 4 lakh employees, and contributes over 22 billion US$ foreign exchange.