Financial Times

Tailors band together
Stitching together to combat cheap imports
By Quintus Perera
Sri Lankan tailors are banding together for the first time to jointly fight the threat of cheap imports of trousers and other readymade garments which they say endangers their profession.

Last week, five Sri Lankan tailoring giants - Linton Academy of Tailoring, Bristol Tailors, Hameedia Stores (Pvt) Ltd, Pettah Tailors Men's Corner, and Linton and Sons Master Tailors (Pvt) Ltd convened a meeting at Sasakava Hall in Colombo of several other tailors in the country and formed the Sri Lanka Master Tailors Association (SLMTA).

In a historic event in the annals of tailoring in the country that drew some 50 tailors, B.N. Silva was elected the President, Hussain Sadique as Secretary and Lal Jayatissa as Treasurer.

The traditional long-standing tailors who have continued for generations have been alarmed in recent times that their age old profession is threatened with extinction as there are some cheap ready-made trousers and other imported garments flowing into the country. It was pointed out at the meeting that in an era where even Saiver (Dosai) boutiques are opened in Colombo by foreigners and foreign Ayurvedic medical clinics are springing up in the city and elsewhere, steps must be taken to stop the inflow of imported ready-made garments.

If such action is not taken tailoring in this country would die a natural death. Already Chinese readymade products are available in the market, the tailors alleged.

Hussain Sadique, Director, Hameedia Ltd, one of the conveners of the meeting, said that it is time the tailors brand their work and make representations to the authorities to impose duty on all imported garments at a unit rate so that the local tailoring industry could be saved.

He said that his company was also involved in the Domestic Garment Manufacturers Association and that the association after a big struggle was able to get the government to agree to a 20 percent tax on imported garments. He said that while concessions were offered to apparel exporters, tailors should also ask for concessions from the government.

Lakshman Guruge, Director, Pettah Tailors & Men's Corner, Kelaniya another convener, said that it was not proper to restrict imports altogether but restriction should be imposed to the extent of safeguarding their industry.

He said that he was in the practice of stitching suits to a person for Rs 6,000 and when the person became a VVIP he was able to satisfy the person with a suit at Rs 18,000 using better material. But when the person became a VVIP he got a suit stitched at a cost of Rs 40,000 from elsewhere.

He said that their market has been based on garments priced between Rs 4,000 to 10,000 on the higher price range and also lower priced ones, as very few of the elite prefer suits beyond this higher figure.

A young tailoring entrepreneur, Mishard Raheem of Raheem Designing Consultants said that he has found that when his employees are faced with difficulties such as accidents, etc, the amount of relief the employer could offer is insufficient. Therefore he suggested that a common fund and an insurance scheme be established in addition to the payment of EPF and ETF where they could offer adequate relief. All the members agreed to the suggestion.

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