His statement came in reply to a query from Kurigram-3 MP AKM Mayeedul Islam during a question-answer session on Monday.

The minister said at present there were 5,190 garment factories in the country, 4,834 of which were export-oriented.

He said fire, electricity and building safety of 3,746 units had been checked primarily.

“Thirty-nine factories have been shut down fully and 42 partially because of a lack of safety,” he added.

Safety in apparel factories came to the forefront after the death of over 1,100 people, mostly workers, when the Rana Plaza at Savar, which used to house five RMG units, collapsed on Apr 24 in 2013.

International RMG brands drew flak for purchasing low-cost apparels but not taking workers’ safety issue into account.

Amid criticism, international brands formed two forums – Accord and Alliance – to improve the working environment in Bangladesh’s apparel industry.

To a query by Waseqa Ayesha Khan, Tofail said Bangladesh had earned $25.49 billion from exports of readymade garments in the 2014-15 fiscal year and $23.76 billion in the first 11 months of the current FY.