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| Monday, 20 September 2004 |
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Sri Lanka 'shark suit' maker eyes post-Athens gold by Amal Jayasinghe Sri Lankan athletes returned from the Olympics empty-handed but the island may have struck gold at Athens with its locally produced, high-tech swim suits. Linea Aqua, a local joint venture with Speedo and Brandot, beat the big players to win the manufacturing contract for the suits, which cut down drag to help the wearer swim faster. The firm says the suits made a big splash at the games, an important factor as the global garment industry quota system, which allows smaller countries to compete by restricting the major producers, expires at the end of the year. Speedo choose the state-of-the-art swimwear factory in Hanwella to make their shark skin-mimicking Fastskin FSII outfits for top teams. "The fact that we were chosen for this project is a huge compliment not only for us, but the entire garment industry in Sri Lanka," says Sarinda Unamboowe, managing director of Linea Aqua Private Ltd. "The way forward for the garment industry in Sri Lanka is to get into high-value niche markets, offering customers a total solution from design to delivery," Unamboowe added, echoing a government thrust to encourage manufacturers to move away from mass-market products. He said the top-secret project code-named "Alpha" was revealed in Athens when swimmers from Austria, Denmark, Greece, Israel, Netherlands, Romania, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden and Switzerland donned the outfits. Several individuals from Australia, Britain and the United States have also worn the shark suits. The high-profile splash in Athens has given the island a much-needed boost in the run-up to the end of the quota system, called the Multi Fibre Agreement (MFA). Small countries like Sri Lanka, where production costs are relatively high, fear being edged out by cheaper imports from China and Southeast Asia. For the swim suits, specialised material made in Japan was cut into 14-18 separate panels and shipped to South Africa for "vortexing", a kind of heat-treated embossing of dots to add buoyancy. The panels were then assembled here by skilled women. For the Athens games, Linea Aqua made 1,700 of the super hydro-dynamic garments, which claim to mimic the qualities of sharkskin and reduce drag by an estimated four percent. "In such a competitive environment, a four percent reduction in drag can make a big difference - the difference between taking part in the finals and just watching the games," Unamboowe said. Sri Lanka earned 2.57 billion dollars from garment exports last year, marginally up from the 2.42 billion dollars in 2002. The European market has been quota free since 2001, and Sri Lanka has benefited, selling top-notch clothes. Linea Aqua also makes 30 to 40 percent of the swimwear Victoria's Secret sells directly through catalogues. |
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