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by Shirajiv Sirimane

A US$ 15 million state of the art metal, coil and vision zippers manufacturing factory for the garment industry was opened at the Seethawaka Industrial Park last Wednesday. Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs Ravi Karunanayake was the chief guest for the opening ceremony.

Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs Ravi Karunanayake, Managing Director YKK Lanka Keigo Hiramatsu and Manager Administration, YKK Lanka Private Ltd, Kumara Indurangala at the factory opening.

This state of the facility on 35,000 square ft land is the first factory in Sri Lanka to manufacture garment accessories for Sri Lankan based companies for export.

Manager Administration, YKK Lanka Private Ltd, Kumara Indurangala said that their products will only be supplied to garment manufacturing companies handling foreign orders.

He said the third highest cost factor in the garment manufacturing sector is for zip and the garment factories are at present exporting them. "Now these factories could purchase our products since they are up to international quality. This is expected to cut their cost by around 20% since they can save on export costs."

Indurangala said that the funding for the project came from their parent company, the global giant YKK in Japan and was channelled through their main branch in Singapore.

Minister Karunanayake said that at this present time, when Sri Lanka was at the crossroads of her history, the fact that global giants such as YKK setting up operations in Sri Lanka brings with it the message to the rest of the world that Sri Lanka is gearing towards bigger and better things in the world economy. "Our apparel industry has been the backbone of our economic system for some time and we need the support of companies such as YKK Lanka to help us steer the industry to becoming a bigger and better suppliers of world class quality apparel."

Managing Director of YKK Lanka, Keigo Hiramatsu said that the company believes in creating new values with advanced technology within the global framework and hence, has brought in that premise to its operations in Sri Lanka. "In this challenging industry, our edge over our competitors is the speedy and courteous customer service with the value addition of a dynamic sales and marketing team," he said. "Our core competency is the manufacture of fastening products which are produced to rigorous quality controlled standards within a vertically integrated production system, earning for us a reputation as a global market leader."

Hiramatsu said that with YKK having a presence in 58 countries across six regions, the group initiates local characteristics into its business activities, thereby allowing marketing to be conducted more efficiently.

With Sri Lanka's apparel industry beginning its fledgling operations in 1980, YKK recognised the need for its products to be introduced to the local market and hence, set up a liaison office in Sri Lanka to co-ordinate the marketing operations. In 1997 however, it became a necessity that zippers are supplied to the industry in minimum lead time and as such, the import flow of zippers to the Sri Lankan market in a short time became a demanding feature.

This was the beginning of a feasibility study for a manufacturing plant, which eventually bore fruit. Obtaining BOI approval in 1999 and beginning construction in 2000 and subsequently its operations, today YKK Lanka caters to the increasing needs of a globally challenging industry, manufacturing quality products and contributing to maximising export earnings of Sri Lanka's economy.

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Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
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