The COVID-19 pandemic has not had a major negative impact to the apparel exports revenue and Sri Lanka will secure around USS 3.7 billion revenue for 2021, the Sri Lanka Apparel Associated opined. Sri Lanka had an apparel export revenue of US$ 5.6 billion in 2019.
The exports in 2020 were also boosted by around US$ 750 million coming from Personal Protection Equipment (PPE). However this segment is drying up since Chinese products are now available in the global market.
The associations’ former and present senior officials met the media at Movenpick Hotel last Tuesday to brief the media on the industry and said that during the first covid wave the industry recovered faster than the present second wave. During the first wave the entire world was suffering but during the second wave many other competitive countries like Bangladesh, India, Vietnam and Indonesia had recovered and were exporting at a faster pace than Sri Lanka which were facing lockdowns, factory closures and tighter health regulations.
Currently there are around 365,000 involved in the large and SME garment sector and around 28,000 in BOI zones, but there were no significant salary and job cuts. There are around 21 factories currently closed temporarily with 20,000 in them being unemployed.
The Minuwangoda Brandix Factory which first reported covid clusters in the apparel sector is now operational with around 20% staff back at work. Brandix group took and are still taking all precautionary measures and to protect employees and there are no job or pay cuts.
The apparel industry is the single largest contributor to Sri Lanka’s exports and represents just fewer than 7% of the country’s GDP. The industry represented 59% of Sri Lanka’s US $9,426 million industrial exports in 2019 (46.9% of the country’s total exports). During the pandemic its brand employees were looked after well and non-affected staff were housed in star class hotels.
The Association said that many companies are planning to relocate out of the BOI and restart operations in outstations due to various logistic reasons. It was also disclosed that the companies are looking at investing in having own hostels to accommodate employees. In 2019, Sri Lanka imported 255,437 MT of fabric for both export-oriented apparel manufacturers and for consumption in the local market. The Net of export value against import value was over 52% of the apparel’s US $5.6 billion in exports, is value added within the country.
Sri Lanka is globally renowned as one of the most responsible apparel manufacturers in the world, in terms of ethical labour practices. On average, a factory employee receives a total compensation of Rs. 40,000 per month, which in most cases includes transport, meals, medical insurance, and several other benefits.
