Financial Times

Good news for Lankan garment industry
By Iromi Perera
Internationally reputed apparel labels Levis and GAP have faith in Sri Lanka's billion-rupee garment industry - that's the good news that emerged last week. While GAP has included Sri Lanka in a group of 19 countries it would continue to buy from out of 44 countries it has been sourcing from until the MFA expires, world-famous Levis is in fact using Sri Lanka as a source for the first time - and that time after textile quotas end.

Last Thursday, Sri Lanka's single largest apparel exporter, Brandix Lanka laid the foundation stone for its newest venture - a fully automated state-of-the-art denim manufacturing plant at the CV Gooneratne Industrial Park in Seethawaka.

This new factory will manufacture denim jeans to the Levi's Strauss and Company 501 denim programme and Brandix would be the first company in Sri Lanka to manufacture the reputed jeans. The $10 million plant is due to start production in May 2005.

"The MFA is ending in less than 30 days and we're opening a US$ 10 million factory!" an enthusiastic Ken Balendra, Brandix Lanka Chairman, told The Sunday Times FT. He said that they were confident about venturing into this project despite the end of the quota regime. He said the fittest in the industry would survive after the end of the quotas.

Around 1500 people will be employed in the new factory expected to produce three million units of denim jeans annually. A six-member team from Levi's Spain will provide technical expertise and initial training. M. H. Omar, founder of the group and Balendra laid the foundation stone.

Guests from Levi & Strauss Company present at the ceremony included Khalid Tiwana, Area Director, South Hub - Asian Sourcing Organization and Alexandra Rieger, Regional Manager of Dockers

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