Country: Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka is planning to build six factories and lease them to investors. Despite road and electricity being provided, investors were reluctant to build factories in Mannar and Mullativu due to the remoteness of the areas and as such, the state will build factories and give them on a long-term lease to recover the cost, observed the country’s Industry and Commerce Minister. 

In the first phase of the initiative, three factories will come up in Weli-Oya, which along with Musali, has around 2,500 youngsters who are available to work in the factories, including the 500 who have experience in apparel business. 

SINGER Fashion Academy has produced over 60,000 young people skilled in professional dress-making and fashion design. In this way these youth are enabled to be self-employed or enter the garment industry as skilled workers. An award ceremony and the fashion show conducted by SINGER Fashion Academy on a grand scale at the BMICH for the 7th consecutive year. The Chairman, President and CEO of Singer Worldwide – Stephen Goodman participated as chief guest, along with his wife.

Kumar Samarasinghe, Sales Director-Singer (Sri Lanka) says that SINGER Fashion Academy is the best place to study scientific dress making methodically. Over sixty thousand students have succeeded in their careers since the inception of this programme. At this ceremony 101 students with exceptional creative talent were awarded certificates.

Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe added an advantage to the list of advantages that will be enjoyed due to the reinstatement of the European Union Generalized Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+) facility, by assuring that the garment workers’ wages will increase considerably. The garment exporters of the country were asked to increase the salaries of their employees with the restoration of GSP Plus so that the Government could comply with the EU requirements. The exporters not only gave a positive response to the proposal, but also agreed to increase the employees’ provident fund contributions.

Sri Lanka’s apparel sector was badly hit by the withdrawal of GSP Plus in 2010 and with its reinstatement, the closed garments are expected to reopen and provide better salaries to the workers.

To draw investors and generate employment, Sri Lanka will subsidize six apparel factories in and around former zones in the north. Three factories will be built on a 50-acre land owned by Sri Lanka’s Mahaweli Authority in Weli-Oya in the first phase. If it succeeds another three factories would be built there on a 50-acre land in Musali in Ammachchi Kulam.

The Cabinet Ministers have approved the proposal by Industry and Commerce Minister Rishard Bathiudeen to build six factories and lease them to investors. Minister claimed that investors were reluctant to build factories in Mannar and Mullativu, despite road and electricity being provided due to the remoteness of the areas. As a result, the state will build factories and give them on a long-term lease to investors to recover the cost.

In Musali and Weli-Oya, around 2,500 youngsters are available to work in the factories including 500 who had experience in the apparel trade. State-run Central Engineering Consultancy Bureau (CECB) could build the factories for 372 million rupees, without Value Added Tax with 186 million rupees to be spent in 2015.