Apparel industry pays no heed to GSP Plus withdrawal

05 Feb '11

2 min read

The Sri Lankan apparel sector has not suffered much due to the withdrawal of the duty free facility by the European Union markets, and the apparel exporters in the country even now have enough foreign orders. Also, that the exports are growing reasonably.

Sri Lanka is believed to have generated revenues worth around 3.3 to 3.4 billion US dollars from apparel exports, the major industrial export item of the island, during 2010.

The sector had continuously been spending on the technology and process development and the same has enabled the industry to boost its efficiency.

The January to November period last year saw the island's apparel and textile export rising by 3.7 percent to 3.04 billion dollars, as over the corresponding period last year.

Meanwhile, the sector's revenue from garment exports to the island's key export markets EU and the US during November 2010 registered a rise of 39 and 28.7 percent, respectively.

Initially it was being apprehended that the loss of GSP (Generalised System of Preferences) Plus trade facility, which earned Sri Lankan textiles and apparels a duty free access in the EU markets in August 2010, may result in extensive factory closures and lay off.

Withdrawal of the GSP Plus facility meant that, Sri Lankan exports would no longer be enjoying duty free access to the EU markets, and would be subjected to an import duty of around 9.6 percent.

However, loss of the facility did not impact the sector much, as the Sri Lankan firms are still getting good number of orders from the foreign buyers. This is much attributable to the positive reputation of delivering quality goods in time that the country had developed particularly during the three decades of racial war which came to an end in 2009.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India