Cotton yarn to come under amended FTA soon
India, Lanka to discuss formalities:
Charumini DE SILVA
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Cotton Yarn |
The Indian Government and the Sri Lankan Government will renew the
Free Trade Agreement (FTA). The Ministry is planning to include the
import of yarn in the FTA.
The Industries and Commerce Ministry has already informed
industrialists to send written requests to be produced during
discussions.
The prices of cotton yarn showed a marked increase during the past
four months. It has increased by 75 percent now.
India has now banned the export of cotton yarn putting the Sri Lankan
textile industry at great risk of closing down factories. This will
result in over 100,000 job losses to employees involved in the industry.
Speaking to the Daily News Business Industries and Commerce Ministry
Textile Division Additional Secretary H M R B Herath said Sri Lanka has
been importing cotton yarn from Thailand, Vietnam and India. The ban in
cotton yarn exports has caused a great loss for the companies that were
depending on Indian cotton yarn. However, the majority of the yarn was
from India because the manufacturers preferred to import from India, as
it is the nearest port, low freight charges and the small order
quantities were also accepted by suppliers.
Mawbima Lanka Foundation Chairman Ariyaseela Wickramanayake said
President Mahinda Rajapaksa rescued the textile weaving industry
immediately after he came to power by writing-off the debts of
industrialists who were facing financial difficulties.
“After that the industry started recovering and showing improvement,
with the campaign of Mawbima Lanka Foundation to improve the local
industry by promoting local products,” Wickramanayake said.
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