Sri Lankan apparel exporters eyeing other countries for accessories

Sri Lanka’s apparel sector too is losing its sleep over the chaos created by the rapidly spreading Coronavirus in China.

And like most of the countries, the worries of Sri Lanka’s apparel industry are justified as its industry is largely dependent on China for apparel accessories.

Commenting on the same, Rehan Lakhany, Chairman, Sri Lanka Apparel Exporters Association, said “We don’t know what the impact is going to be. We cannot say when China will open up; everything depends on that.”

Also, one needs to consider how much of garment accessories can be sourced from other countries. And, importantly, all this could impact lead time as well.

Rehan added that even if Sri Lanka manages to find alternate markets temporarily, there would be cost implication due to the shift and depending on different locations it could also affect the delivery lead time.

Here it is important to note that China remains Sri Lanka’s second largest import market (after India) accounting for nearly 21 per cent of Sri Lanka’s imports.