Sri Lanka’s apparel industry has recorded a growth in the first four months this year but industry experts’ note there is a discrepancy in the figures.
The difference in the figures arise from a 70% increase YOY according to the Export Development Board (EDB) statistics compared to the 15-20% increase calculated by the industry, Sri Lanka Apparel Exporters Association Chairman Rohan Abeykoon told the Business Times.
At least a 5% difference was recorded for the year ending March 2010 while in the year ending March 2011 the difference stood at 22%, industry sources said.
Further, in the first quarter of 2011 while a 12% dip was recorded, during the same period last year a difference of 23% was noted.
Mr. Abeykoon observed that under the Office of Textile and Apparel (OTEXA) that records the US imports, a difference of US$225 million was noted for the period January 2010 to April 2011 between the data given by the two organisations.
OTEXA is a US government body functioning under the US State Department of Commerce providing access to International Trade Administration information on promoting trade and investment, strengthening the competitiveness of US industry and ensuring fair trade and compliance with trade laws and agreements.
However, EDB Chairman Janaka Ratnayaka said that since the OTEXA website makes no mention of the HS numbers it is impossible to ascertain under what HS numbers the differences have occurred.
But it was pointed out that the differences in the figures could be attributed to:
1) Difference between the shipment date of the consignment from Sri Lanka and the date of arrival in the USA; and
2) Difference between the quantities given in the CUSDEC by the exporter and quantity actually shipped.
A sharp increase came in September/October 2010 upto March 2011 with exports rising, Mr. Abeykoon explained adding the growth for the period January - September was on par or slightly down but the entire year had recorded a surge of about 70% according to the government data released.
OTEXA official website notes a total of US$1215 million in imports for 2009 and US$1228 million in 2010. On the other hand, the EDB figures indicate a significant increase in revenue from garment exports to the US at US$1297 million for 2009 and US$1372 million in 2010.
EDB calculations are made at the time of export while the US OTEXA figures are obtained at time of import to the US, Mr. Abeykoon explained. “It’s well and good if the figures are correct but there’s a concern to us because the figures are not in line with what we are getting,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mr. Abeykoon pointed out there was still no progress on the Export Development Reward Scheme (EDRS) initiated by the government.
The state sponsored objective of ensuring exporters would increase value addition, had resulted in them going unrewarded.
In the first two quarters of 2009, the amount settled for exporters was capped off at Rs.10 million per exporter. However, the balance payments for the rest of the year remained suspended and the relevant department had not even begun accepting applications for processing in the third and fourth quarters. |
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