Basil, Rishad step in, to expand Sri Lanka’s $ 13m handlooms

As the private sector begins to show increasing interest in entering the local handlooms sector, Minister of Economic Development Basil Rajapaksa and Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen jointly launched Ransalu 2011, the National Handloom and Textile Exhibition of Sri Lanka, in Colombo for the 21st successive year.    

The National Handloom Exhibition is organised by the Ministry of Industry and began in 1991.

The national exhibition, sprinkled with dance troupes and cultural shows will end on today (19) but handloom outlet sales at the venues will continue till 24 December at the BMICH Exhibition Hall premises.

“The handloom sector is a strong antidote for unemployment and underemployment in our rural economy” said Minister Bathiudeen, adding, “It’s also a livelihood means for unemployed war widows and the entrepreneurial youth in the North and Eastern regions.  

Sri Lanka’s handloom sector is one of the low cost but high earning industries.

Its annual production exceeds six million metres of looms with an estimated annual production value of Rs. 1500 million ($ 13.19 million) all of which are swallowed by both local and international demand.

The production is labour intensive and the industry consumes less electricity and utilities while generating higher employment.  

At present, there are 511 weaving centres with 2971 weavers and more than 10000 looms in Sri Lanka assisted by 22 dying houses. More than 15000 personnel are engaged in the handloom industry.

The key Lankan provinces for handlooms are the Wayamba, Western, and Central provinces. The eastern regions of Sri Lanka too were reputed for handlooms but the 2004 Tsunami disaster inflicted damage on the eastern production but despite this, eastern handlooms continue to command buyer appeal.

The handloom textile export target for 2011 set by the EDB under the Ministry of Industries is US $ 1.29 million (Rs. 146 million). Among the international markets that vie for Sri Lankan handlooms are Italy, Germany, France, UK, Norway, Netherlands, Maldives and Thailand.

Ko Lanka Managing Director R.S Balanathan, whose firm produces Rs. 50 million handlooms annually and whose firm produces the only silk handloom clothes and sarees in Sri Lanka, said: “I commend this show which is a strong boost to our industry. I believe we also need more support (to the private sector) and a bigger role for private sector in the handlooms of Sri Lanka” and added “We are willing to expand.”

To uplift the industry, attract private sector and enhance exports, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce has now proposed to set up small scale Industrial Estates in the Batticaloa District, a Textile Museum at Katubedda Textile Complex and to develop the handloom industry through the ‘Kantha Diriya’ programme.

The Ministry is also pushing the Peace Collection, the handlooms produced by vulnerable groups in north and east as having special brand appeal based on the renowned Rwandan Peace Collection model. The Peace Collection has already received support from USAID and UNESCO to promote them internationally and place it in the international department store shelves.    

Among the challenges for the revival of handlooms in Sri Lanka are the rising cost of most raw material imports (specially the cotton and silk yarns) and also the lack of interest in youth who shun the industry, thereby depriving the industry of its vital second generation weavers.

Former Sri Lanka Institute of Textile and Apparel (SLITA) Director and a pioneer in Sri Lanka’s handlooms and textiles sector, Pathmasiri Goonewardene said: “As the pioneer who introduced this series of exhibitions way back, I am happy to see the show continuing on its 21st year. We need to enlist more youth into this promising industry. We also need to build capacity in terms of the dying sector and replicate the successful handloom technology used in Haragama village looms centre (in the Central Province) to other centres in the country.”