Tri Star Apparel Exports to be opened on Sept 5

Charumini de Silva

Tri Star Apparel Exports (Pvt) Ltd., has commenced commercial operations as the first factory and the ceremonial opening of the factory will be on September 5 in Thambalagamuwa, Trincomalee district under the Government's development program, Nagenahira Navodaya.

Tri Star Apparel Exports (Pvt) Ltd., Chairman, Dr. Kumar Dewapura said, "Over 4,500 people in the Thambalagamuwa area responded when we first called for employees to set up the factory. We have created 1,000 job opportunities under this project. Those selected were given a training for three months, as most of them were unskilled."

He said when they set up factories in remote areas they found the labour easily and they only had to provide them a proper training. This type of projects helps to build the economy because when people have a proper income the other requirements in the area will be developed accordingly. "We have provided employees all the facilities including food, insurance, medication and transportation," he said.

Since we received a response from a large number of people in Thambalagamuwa, we trained another young team of 1,800 to cater to the demand in the apparel industry at our training centre and when they complete the three-month course they could join another factory or go abroad, he said.

"The total investment on this project is US$ one million and we have already got an infant ware order of one million pieces from the United Kingdom. At present we have received a few orders from the United Kingdom and the United States of America. This is a key industry where Sri Lanka could attract more foreign exchange and this will facilitate greatly to strengthen the economy," he said.

He said even if factories are set up in rural areas, the management should implement the latest technology to cater to the demand as well as to compete with other countries such as India, China, Bangladesh and Pakistan which are engaged in the apparel industry. It is important to increase the efficiency within the company to meet the challenges in the apparel industry.