|
|
 |
 |
 |
| Monday, 1 March 2004 |
 |
|
 |
Features | |
| News Business Features Editorial Security Politics World Letters Sports Obituaries
|
How Lanka's garment industry will take on future challenges by Chandani Jayatilleke Is the clock ticking for Sri Lanka's garment industry? Is it really going to collapse when the quota system comes to an end and a market challenge is created in 2005? Will our manufacturers be able to secure markets for their garment products and ensure continuous exports to the international market? Will the small and medium garment manufacturing factories be closed and the number of jobs pruned, in the event of no accessible markets? These issues may have already been discussed in many a forum, yet the questions seem unanswered, as we are nearing the quota free era. To be exact, we are only 10 months away from the deadline. "Well... some of the questions would remain without proper answers till we really come to it. But our garment industry is well aware of the challenges ahead and they have been gearing to face these challenges over the years," Head, Joint Apparel Associations Forum (JAAF), Tuly Cooray said.
"If we continue in the present sphere, being a capacity manufacturer, this industry will collapse in no time. Therefore, there is a need for us to ensure that our apparel companies are competitive and compliant." "A recent international conference held in Sri Lanka discussed this issue widely. During the conference, a decision had been made to set up a Committee and establish a mechanism to assist companies to be upgraded so that the industry can proudly claim that firms in the apparel export industry are all socially compliant, he said. Basically, what is going to happen after the quota removal is that countries which have not been recognised as acceptable suppliers are now coming into the mainstream. Countries such as China, Bangladesh, India and Pakistan belong to this category. "Basic feature of these countries is that they already have large domestic markets for apparel, which is a backbone to the industry. They have integrated suppliers and they employ extremely large labour forces and therefore, the cost of production is lower than in Sri Lanka, Cooray said. Now there is a wide demand from consumers to manufacturers and retailers internationally, to ensure people who are properly treated produce the clothes they wear. In other words, they are no longer ready to wear clothes manufactured in 'sweat houses'. This is a plus point for Sri Lanka and our manufacturers are well aware of this fact and they have been upgrading their facilities over the last few years. In this context, Sri Lanka has already scored. As far as the labour regulations are concerned, Sri Lanka has met the ILO requirements. Secondly, we have a reliable supplier network. Apparels for a large number of leading brands are manufactured here. And we have also made a mark as a quality manufacturer, which delivers goods on time. As far as the business environment is concerned, Sri Lanka is a liberal country to do business with and buyers prefer this destination to its competitors. We also have a well-organised manufacturing base with 800 to 1,000 manufacturing units. Some of them may not be compliant as yet, but they are in a position to do so following the concessions offered by the government in its last budget. To add to plus points, Sri Lanka is also known as a top manufacturer of intimate garments - one of the worlds best, Cooray said. What have we done? This question was the slogan for the garment industry for the last few years. Let's now see what we actually have done to look beyond the quota-free era. Having realised the need for 'one voice' for the industry to achieve a common goal, we set up the JAAF, which is a combination of five different organisations. And then we developed a five-year action plan. According to this plan, we set up nine committees to work on specialised areas such as labour initiatives, bilateral issues, human resource development, infrastructure development, finance control and so on. We have introduced a design course in collaboration with the London School of Fashion Design to keep pace with the latest fashion developments in the world and to train people to match the demand. Considering the marketing issue, we introduced the apparel marketing course, in collaboration with the Chartered Institute of Marketing, UK. Both study programs have received huge responses and courses are well in progress now, Cooray said. Recently, the JAAF also launched a media promotional program to build the image of garment employees because they had realised that people do not continue to be in garment employment due to a social stigma. "We've been trying to change the social standards of a garment worker through this program." The Government has allocated Rs. 100 million to increase the productivity of the apparel sector. To support SMEs in the apparel industry, the Government has launched a credit guarantee scheme as proposed in budget 2004. "This will reduce the burden of them, not having collateral to get bank loans. We hope that these schemes will continue to support the industry irrespective of the political party, which is in power. Future - what has to be done? Well... well... well... 'niche' is going to be the buzzword in the garment industry in the future, if the country is to remain a leading garment exporter. After all, 50% of the island's exports are garments. The industry sustains one million direct and indirect employees and earns US$ 2.38 billion annually. This challenge can be overcome if we are innovative and our productivity level can be maintained at a high level. Our productivity level at present is high, but there's much scope for growth. We also need to think of ways to add value to our industry. Sri Lanka has always been depending on the US and European markets for its apparel exports. Is that the limit? "We need to go beyond this point and explore new market opportunities. We should negotiate multilaterally and bilaterally to gain market shares in other countries. South Asia's outlook According to a study done in the US, Sri Lanka is likely to see its share of US apparel imports fall, but expected to be a niche supplier for speciality or fashion goods, hosiery and women's intimate apparel such as bras and underwear. India and Pakistan are likely to remain competitive suppliers while Bangladesh's status as an overall supplier to US is uncertain, the report said. However, the same report states, US firms are likely to expand sourcing from South Asia with the removal of quota in 2005. Then the question here is who's going to be the winner in South Asia? |
|
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security
Produced by Lake House |
A quota free era is certainly a challenge. But the industry should make
a concerted effort to turn this challenge into an opportunity and they
have chosen to take this path and build competitiveness by championing
compliance with national and international standards, Cooray told the
Daily News in an interview.
