Financial Times

Tri Star group completes 25 years in business

By Anthony Fernando
Twenty-five years is a young and vibrant age in a person's life to give of his best. So it is with the country's largest apparel manufacturing combine of Tri Star Apparel Exports (Pte) Ltd, the pioneers who initiated garment factories in rural Sri Lanka.

The company operates 25 fully fledged factories and eight major support services centres. But what makes Tri Star stand out different to that of other such large scale enterprises is the humanitarian aspect that characterises its operations in the wake of the giant strides it made as a supplier of quality apparel wear to reputed global brands.

The group can justly lay claim to giving the lead in linking Sri Lankan villages with global apparel markets. Looking back Tri Star founder and Chairman Kumar Dewapura recalls the significant contribution the company has made towards the socio- economic development of the country despite the many trials and tribulations the company faced over the years.

"Our operations all along were not confined to business aspects only but also towards human considerations," he said.

Dewapura started business in a modest scale by opening his first factory in Katubedda in 1979 with only 10 machines and 15 employees, targeting products exclusively to the foreign market and scored instant success. Soon he expanded his business to include prestigious buyers like Marks and Spencer and set up three more larger factories in Ratmalana.

Later he expanded into the provinces under the 200 Garment Factories Programme launched by late President Ranasinghe Premadasa..

Dewapura says it was he who first broached the idea of setting up garment factories in the rural areas to President Premadasa.

Tri Star could well have built on only running the highly successful factories it operated in suburbs of Colombo producing quality garments to world famous labels like Marks and Spencer, Victoria Secret, Gap, Grasshopper etc. But Dewapura felt that he should do something for the people, making use of the technical know how and resources he has accumulated.

The youth rebellion of late 1980s had just died down leaving in its wake large-scale destruction to life and property. "Thousands of youths who rebelled were in custody. They had rebelled due to lack of employment opportunities.

I thought why can't we train these people who were mainly school drop outs in garment manufacturing skills? So I took the risk and set up a factory on my own at Karandagolla in Dodangaslanda first to train the youth in skills.”

Large numbers came for the interviews. Many girls were so poor that they were not even wearing slippers and were shabbily dressed. Soon they were earning sufficient incomes to sustain their families and improve their standard of living. They soon started dressing well and wearing jewellery and also put up their own houses.

Tri Star suffered when textile quotas enjoyed by most of its factories in the rural areas were reduced or withdrawn after the death of President Premadasa. Yet Dewapura managed to keep then all going for the sake of the employees from the profits earned by other factories doing non-quota orders for prestigious labels. However high interest rates and a market downturn due to the northeast conflict forced the temporarily closure of 10 of the company's 30 factories.

Dewpura says he is determined to start all over again the town-to-village concept by re-opening the closed factories.

Already seven of the closed factories at Buttala, Badulla, Bandarawela, Welimada, Hasalaka, Ambalantota and Kamburupitiya have been reopened during the past few months following encouraging signs of the markets picking up following the peaceful environment in the country.

What of the future? Dewapura has begun restructuring and upgrading machinery and improving the training skills of the workforce to meet modern day requirements.

The company has also launched an impressive marketing strategy by setting up branches in U.K., Germany, U.S.A. and in African countries.

The Tri Star founder is cautious of the future saying it depends on the continuation of a peaceful environment in the country.

"The economic upturn and the peaceful environment in the recent past gave us an impetus to go forward and we were able to secure more orders from reputed buyers.

If peace is shattered everything is gone. It is up to our leaders to ensure that nothing untoward happens," he said.

(The writer is a former media consultant at Tristar)

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