The Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB) recently facilitated a meeting between a team of multinational buyers and Sri Lankan apparel giants on November 27, 2015 at Mt Lavinia Hotel. The meeting succeeded in bridging the gap between Sri Lankan players and nine top global retailers.
Apparel segment contributes the highest export share to Sri Lanka's economy and in 2014 it earned $ 4.9 billion –just short of the $5 billion target, increasing by 9.2 per cent from 2013. This meeting is expected to bring the country closer to an ambitious new export target of $10 billion set by the apparel industry, which it aims to achieve by 2025.
The visiting international buyer team, flown in by EDB included representatives from Brazil’s Casas Pernambucanas, Grupo Guararapes, Cia Herring, Australia’s Pilot Athletic, Cotton on Group, Bein Sports, and Auluaulu International, Denmark’s Day Birger Mikkelsen, and India’s Raymond Apparel. Apart from visiting the EDB facilitated factory visits of Lankan manufacturers, the buyers also took part in Sri Lanka Design Festival event in Colombo on November 26, 2015.
The EDB’s work to facilitate the buyer delegation started in 2012. As a result, a year ago, the first Lankan apparel industry delegation visited Spain’s Inditex. www.srilankabusiness.com
