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Call for permanent EDB office in New York

By Pravin Mendis

A delegation consisting of members of garment manufacturers who visited Canada and New York on an image building campaign has proposed to the authorities the need to have a permanent office of the Export Development Board in New York from where the Government can step into assist garment manufacturers who want to set up offices in the city.

The delegation together with the EDB officials made representations on behalf of the garment industry and have stressed the need for a major image building excercise with strong lobbying skills.

Chairman and Managing Director of Creations(Pvt)Ltd and immediate past Chairman of the Exporters Association Lyn Fernando said their presentations in the US and Canada were focused mainly on Sri Lanka having a good reputation with daily sailings and flights to and from Colombo having the highest compliance for labour regulations and standards.

Mr. Fernando said their delegation prevailed upon the buyers that Sri Lanka was not involved in the ongoing war in Afghanistan or unduly disturbed by the happenings in the region and the fact that the country's capacity to undertake orders promptly.

He was delivering the keynote address at a seminar on the impact of recessionary trends on garment and other export oriented enterprises organised by Corporate Legal Conference Services at the Trans Asia Hotel on Tuesday.

Mr. Fernando stressed the need for the Government authorities to embark on a major image building exercise in the United States and Canada and have proposed that the Commonwealth Secretariat hold exhibitions in major cities such as Montreal, Toronto, New York and Washington for the industry, the country's largest foreign exchange earner with 63% exports to the US.

The buyers have brought to the delegates' attention the need to cut costs on the part of manufacturers as other countries are offering concessions and duty free facilities.The local manufacturer needs to cut the costs on transport, electricity and port charges to remain competitive, Mr.Fernendo said.

Mr.Fernando said they have found the high level lobbies which the manufacturers have proposed to be ineffective in the US. "The US would look at regions and not at countries individually," he said.

Therefore, Mr. Fernando said the need of the hour is to build a strong lobby in the SAARC region which can negotiate as a region and not as individual nations.

The country should make use of powerful lobbyists such as what Bangladesh does spending a large amount of money to lobby for export orders.

The Apparel Associations need to take these facts into consideration when lobbying with international buyers, Mr. Fernando said.

Another important aspect he said was the fact that China will enjoy the quota facility for about 8-12 years more after 2005 when the quota system is removed due to China signing a side letter with the United States to continue with quotas even after 2005. He expressed fears that China and India will dominate the garment industry in such a scenario.

He said the recent attacks on the WTC and the Anthrax scare would have far reaching consequences on the local garment industry with the on-set of uncertainty and panic which has gripped the United States which will result in low spending for the coming Christmas season hampering local trade and exports.

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