Apparel sector exports continue to grow in July with support from stakeholders

While apparel in particular is riding the wave of demand to continue its upward momentum and perform extremely well in July, Hela Clothing is one such apparel company that is currently enjoying a growth in their exports.

The company, in a media release, said that it has attributed its ability to remain competitive in the current business landscape to quick decision-making and support from their network of partners. The industry had been suffering since the outbreak of COVID-19 and the lockdown went into effect in April. It was estimated that collectively the apparel industry had lost US$1.5 billion in revenue for the year. However, consecutive upward movement in apparel exports is highlighting the resilience of the industry and its players.

Like Hela Clothing, many in the industry have relied on the support and understanding of all their stakeholders to help navigate the unchartered waters of the pandemic.

“Support from all our stakeholders helped us meet the challenges of the moment and bounce back faster than expected,” said A. R. Rasiah, Chairman – Hela Clothing. “This includes support from our valued employees, our trusted banking partners as well as from the Export Development Board and the Board of Investment who helped us each step of the way to ensure that we got what we needed to function during the lockdown and after.”

“Thanks to this unwavering support we are now on stronger footing,” he added, according to the release.

The industry which saw dire predictions in April was faced with mass unemployment and dramatically reduced salaries due to deep pay cuts. But the current state of exports would appear to paint a different story – one of recovery. This is a sentiment cautiously shared by Hela Clothing as the company witnesses renewed interest from their customer portfolio. The improved results and outlook led the company to start repaying deferred salaries in July.

“From the start in April we wanted to make sure everyone understood that we were not instituting a pay cut but rather a deferment of a part of their pay. And once we were in a stronger financial position we would be paying those deferments back,” said Mr. Rasiah.

Hela has said that these payments will be evaluated on a month-by-month basis and depend on the financial viability of the company. However, they do intend on paying back all deferred pay at the earliest possibility to ensure that their employees do not face any unnecessary burden. The company also hopes that this action will have a wider positive implication for the national economy.

While Hela Clothing has been fortunate the export industry as a whole and the nation still have many challenges ahead. The US, which remains Sri Lanka’s single largest export market (27% of total merchandise exports in 2019), is still battling to flatten the curve and recent plans to re-open states have faced major obstacles as the country continues to post record infection figures daily.