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Cheap imports pose threat to domestic clothing industry
Garment manufacturers have asked the government to stem the flood of under-invoiced imports and to allow them to buy inputs duty free to prevent the collapse of the domestic industry.

The Sri Lanka Garment Manufacturers’ Association (Domestic) said the industry, which sustains about 500,000 people in the formal and informal sectors, was facing a “severe crisis” with its very existence being undermined by cheap, low-quality imports.

“Huge volumes of inferior readymade garments are being imported at grossly undervalued prices from countries where monetary incentives are given to their exporters,” it said in a statement.

According to Customs statistics, the revenue collected by the government on importation of readymade garments (HS Code Category 61 and 62) has been only about Rs. 169 million in 2001 and Rs. 103 million for the first six months of this year.

“Many large retailers will have larger annual turnovers than this,” the statement said. “This is ample proof that most imports are heavily undervalued.” Any visit to the Katunayake International airport will prove that most courier-passengers bring in garments in commercial quantities sometimes even up to 200 kg per passenger, it said.

These are released without proper valuations and at minimal or no duty. On a rough ‘guesstimate’, a mimimum of a container load of imported garments per flight from Bangkok finds its way into the domestic market.

“A minimum of three flights land at Katunayake each day from such destinations and its effect on the domestic manufacturer is anybody’s guess,” the statement said.

“The combined effect has forced the industry to the brink of collapse, thereby seriously threatening the livelihood of the many employed in the sector.” The association said that despite the government’s aim of making the country a high profile centre for garments, the domestic industry is “heavily discriminated against” with bylaws, regulations and other restrictions preventing the industry from expanding and flourishing.

The association is of the view that the state should remove the unfair tariff structure on the domestic garment manufacturing industry inputs, and impose restrictions on the volume/value of imports, to provide a level playing field to the industry. It has also asked the government to permit domestic manufacturers to purchase raw materials, accessories and packing materials from the BOI sector, on a duty free basis and in rupees in order to reduce production costs and be more competitive.

Saudi plays safe with Alpha
Alpha Industries Ltd , which makes safes and steel office furniture, has made their first export of Bank Under Counters to Saudi Arabia. Alpha Industries have been in the security, safe and furniture manufacturing business for over 40 years.

In fact, Alpha Industries Director Marketing Pujitha Peries said they had secured this order, beating international suppliers, due to the high quality of their furniture. “We are indeed proud of the fact that we have secured this first contract and we have been assured of future orders for a wide range of our products such as fire doors, safes, exit doors, classic doors and safety deposit lockers,” said Peries.

This has proved to be a significant breakthrough for Alpha as the Saudi market is very competitive and Alpha is confident of further strengthening their presence in the region .

Xmas bonanza for Cellcard users
An unexpected cash and calling bonanza awaits lucky Cellcard subscribers this festive season, through a simple yet exciting promotion from Celltel, the pioneer cellular operator.

The company will pick at random one subscriber a day till January 14, 2003, from its Cellcard user base, who makes at least one outgoing call that day, and present him or her with Rs. 5,000 in cash and Rs. 5, 000 in credit for calls. The promotion is titled “Walk away with 5000, Talk away with 5000” and is intended to reward Cellcard users, who represent a substantial segment of the company’s analog and GSM subscribers.

“This promotion adds further value during the festive season, to the already popular Cellcard,” Celltel’s Commercial Director Aniljit Singh said. “Cellcard has been the leader in offering value to cellular subscribers, with up to one minute incoming free, Rs. 2 unlimited incoming during off-peak, low night rates, unlimited validity and free CLI.”

The new cash bonanza will be available to Cellcard users throughout Sri Lanka, and winners in the provinces will have the facility of collecting their prizes from Celltel dealers in those areas, he said. Winners will be called on their cellular phones, and therefore to be eligible, their phones should be answered, when called.

CIMA, SLTnet conduct Internet seminars
CIMA Sri Lanka Division and SLTnet, Sri Lanka Telecom’s ISP arm, are conducting a series of seminars islandwide on the Internet. The seminar series under the theme ‘Web Spinners Unite’ is targeted at school children. The fifth seminar of this series was held at Jaffna College Undergraduate Department.

Students of more than 10 schools of the Jaffna district and suburbs attended this seminar. Mohamed Firdhous, Lecturer, University of Moratuwa was the main resource person of the seminar.

Topics include Internet basics to various other aspects of the Internet such as eCommerce, eLearning, career guidance on Internet, the new economy, payment and security, web design for eCommerce and Internet marketing basics. Noel Vimalendran, Principal of Jaffna College and V. Sabapathy, Engineer Switching, North/East Province of SLT also addressed the gathering.

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