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November 28, 2012 (Sri Lanka) | Fiber2Fashion
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The Sri Lankan apparel sector may not
be able to achieve the US$ 5 billion target fixed by the Government for 2015,
mainly due to waning exports and increasing costs of production, according to
experts.
In the first three quarters of the
current year, clothing exports from Sri Lanka plummeted 7 percent over same
period last year. The main fall was witnessed in exports to the EU and the
US, which dipped by 10 percent year-on-year and 6 percent year-on-year,
respectively.
Sri Lankan garment sector is losing
its competitive edge in world market due to high production cost, and leading
buyers are now shifting to cheap sourcing destinations, experts said at the
annual meeting of the Sri Lankan Apparel Exporters Association.
Moreover, the financial crunch in
European countries is making buyers cost conscious, which, too, is affecting
Sri Lankan apparel exports, according to industry analysts.
Both the incumbent and the outgoing
chiefs of the association said the loss of EU’s Generalized System of
Preferences (GSP) Plus concessions by Sri Lanka two years ago have slowly
started impacting the Sri Lankan garment industry.
EU has not extended the GSP Plus
concessions mainly due to the Sri Lankan Government’s failure to implement UN
conventions on labour rights and right to association and formation of trade
unions in free trade zones.
In this context, the association urged
the Government to implement the recommendations made by the Lessons Learnt
and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC).
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Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Sri Lankan garment sector may miss US$5bn target
