United Kingdom: Sri Lanka is aiming to increase its apparel exports from the current USD 650 million to USD one billion mark via the Sourced SRI LANKA Fashion and Textile Trade Show which began at London Horticulture hall yesterday said Secretary General, Sri Lanka Apparel Sourcing Association (SLASA) Gopal K Iyer.
He said at the opening that it was unfortunate that Sri Lanka never hosted an event of this nature to promote apparel exports for the past 20 years while its neighbouring countries like Bangladesh, India and even Pakistan hold regular international events annually.
“We have to market ourselves and for this you have to host international events,” he said. He also said that today many of the big buyers from US, UK and European countries want to delist from big apparel, suppliers like Bangladesh and placing orders with smaller countries like Sri Lanka. “This can be a big opening for us and we must capitalise on this. This is because large buyers don’t want to put all the eggs in one basket meaning depending on one country that may cause supply issues.” He also said that this event has attracted many UK chambers as well as buyers from both UK and neighbouring countries and this should be a good opening for Sri Lanka to attract more buyers.
The UK is the second largest apparel market with a share of 13% of the total apparel export to the world. USA is the major export market for Sri Lanka apparel, accounting for 42% of the total apparel exports to the world. He also thanked the Sri Lanka High Commissioner in London along with the Export Development Board, Joint Apparel Association and other stakeholders for supporting the event.