‘GSP+ balances TPP’- Rishad

Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen (left) listens to the joint winner of grand ‘Ransalu Swarna Award’ (given by his Ministry) W Indrani (right), a weaver from Nittambuwa whose exquisite weaving of a premium saree motif which showcased an extra weft insertion and minimised the usual hefty costs incurred in such a labour-intensive weaving, at the Ransalu awards event at BMICH, Colombo on 18 December.

Sri Lanka’s apparel sector is assured that potential effects, if any, from the biggest global trade agreement in two decades are likely to be balanced out by the return of GSP Plus, according to a top Cabinet Minister on 18 December.

 Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen, speaking at his Ministry’s annual Ransalu Textile Expo inauguration event on 18 December in Colombo, also stressed that the  Trans Pacific Parternship (TPP) agreement - the biggest global trade agreement in two decades signed in early October - needs to be studied further.

 “We are inaugurating this textile event at a time our world class apparel industry is becoming increasingly hopeful on regaining the GSP PLUS facility with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s able economic diplomacy and leadership. There are many concerns in trade sectors across the world that this October’s Trans Pacific Partnership agreement or TPP could have an impact on them.  Prime Minister Wickremesinghe said that TPP agreement needs further study and I too believe so. At the same time, the government is moving forward on the EU’s GSP Plus facility as well. Therefore, our government’s timely initiative to regain GSP Plus is likely to cancel out any potential effects of TPP on our apparels, and I’m confident that our world class apparel sector would continue with its strong performance,” said Bathiudeen.

 “The latest good news on our apparels is that two weeks ago, the global textile web site “just-style.com” announced Lankan apparels’ continued top slot in the USA market. Sri Lanka’s apparel industry has set a new export target of USD 10bn by 2025 and the government supports it. The government is also trying to position Sri Lanka among the top 10 high quality apparel manufacturing countries in the world by 2020.  In such a background, this annual Ransalu series of exhibitions is a great way to showcase our large scale as well as SME textiles. In fact my Ministry has spent nearly Rs. 88 million in 2013 and 2014 for development programs in handlooms as well. We also send our local apparel craftsmen for Textile Technology training to Kerala, India,” he said.

In 2014, Sri Lanka’s apparel export values edged close to the USD 5mn mark, totalling USD 4.9bn.