Garment sector reflects buoyancy even without tax concessions

21 Feb '11

2 min read

The recently released export data for 2010 reveals that there has been a slight rise in Sri Lanka's exports to its major markets – EU and the US during the year. This well signifies that, the Sri Lankan garment sector has once again proved its buoyancy and competitiveness in the global markets, amidst the external adversities, and no advantage of the duty concessions or preferential treatments.

According to the industry analysts, the rise in the exports to the EU has materialized even after the sector lost the benefit of the GSP plus tax concessions, which is a positive sign indicating that the sector can move ahead on its own.

The country's overall garment exports during 2010 registered a year on year rise of 6.4 percent at $ 3359.3 million, up from $3157.6 million in 2009. The exports to the EU grew by a 3.4 percent from $1646.8 million in 2009 to $1702.2 million in 2010, while that to the US grew by 5.8 percent from $1297.5 million in 2009 to $1372.8 million in 2010.

The industry suffered the adverse effects of the global economic slump during the initial six months of 2010 and registered negative growths during the period, however it started recovering during the second part of the year, owing to the rise in the demand backed by revival of its key markets.

The sector started witnessing a marginal recovery during the months of June and July, last year, which accelerated in October and became substantial by close of the year. The sector's overall exports registered a rise of 34.4 percent during December 2010 as over December 2009, while the exports to the EU and the US grew by 32.8 and 35 percent respectively during the period.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India