Dayasiri to drum up Laksala and Salusala

• With COVID impacting tourist arrivals, launches initiative to take Lankan craft to global markets
• Deal signed for franchise Laksala stores in Miami and Dubai; plans to cover other markets such as UK, Japan, Australia, Canada, Sweden, Ukraine and China
• Efforts underway to improve capacity of craftsmen on production, product development, design and quality
• To create online database of craftsmen and their products; plans to negotiate placement in global ecommerce platforms such as Amazon and Alibaba
• Says $ 150 m spent annually on offseason and cheap clothing from Southeast Asia and Far East despite Sri Lanka producing apparel for renowned global brands
• Opposes Sri Lanka becoming dumping ground
• Salusala to be revamped and expanded via franchise agreements with private sector
• To lobby for enhanced percentage of BOI factory produced apparel for local sales via Salusala outlets
• Each district to have mega department store-style Laksala-Salusala franchisees

State Minister of Batik, Handloom and Local Apparel Production Dayasiri Jayasekera is to drum up once-famed State-owned entities Laksala and Salusala with several ground-breaking initiatives aimed at boosting foreign exchange earnings and livelihoods of craftsmen and local industries.

Adopting a two-pronged strategy, Dayasiri has already introduced the overseas franchise store concept for Laksala in partnership with proven and passionate private sector partners. 

Laksala has signed agreements for franchised exclusive showrooms to market its products in Miami in the US and Dubai in the Middle East.

The first overseas franchise signed in July was with Boom Lanka Batik and Gifts LLC-USA for a store in Miami whilst last week Laksala signed up with Sala Global for the showroom in Dubai.

Dayasiri also hopes to franchise Salusala locally under a public-private partnership model after securing Cabinet level support for specific initiatives.

One is increasing the percentage of local sales of Board of Investment (BOI) approved apparel factories from 10% at present and channelling the additional quota to Lankan consumers via Salusala-Laksala franchisees at district level. 

“The idea is to open up Government-owned or franchised Department Stores at district level in partnership with the private sector. These Department stores will exclusively sell Laksala gift products as well as Salusala products which in the future will include BOI factories producing world-class clothing,” Dayasiri said.

He said to secure an additional percentage of BOI outputs to the local market, discussions had been held with Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa.

“For many decades Sri Lanka has been producing for several of the world-famous clothing brands. However, despite that talent and expertise, Sri Lanka spends valuable foreign exchange to import cheap clothing from overseas,” said Dayasiri, who estimates $ 100 to $ 150 million is annually spent on imports.

“We have become the dumping ground for off-season and cheap quality clothing from Southeast Asia and Far East. We cannot let this continue. Going forward the country cannot afford to spend foreign exchange on import of such products. This cannot be condoned especially when Sri Lanka is a world-class apparel producer,” Dayasiri emphasised.

He said his Ministry hoped to boost local apparel brands which also export. “I hope to propose duty free import of accessories for the manufacturers of local apparel brands and reduce their cost of production,” Dayasiri added.

Focusing on Laksala, he said that following the franchising initiative, there was renewed interest to sign up as well as source Laksala products globally. “We hope to have franchise agreements in the UK, Japan, Australia, Canada, Ukraine, Sweden, China, etc.”

“With opportunities come challenges,” Dayasiri said, pointing to the need for enhancing production to match commercial quantities and quality as well as customise products to suit different markets.

“Our challenge is increasing the production and new product development capacity of local craftsmen. We intend to have workshops at district level in this regard, thereby sharing expertise,” the State Minister said, adding that the Laksala network encompassed hundreds of craftsmen and over 50,000 products.

He said with tourist arrivals impacted due to the COVID pandemic, local craftsmen were in crisis. “We had to think of alternative ways to help the craftsmen and their families. The franchise idea emanated from this search process. It means taking ‘made in Sri Lanka’ craft products to the global customer,” Dayasiri said, explaining the basis for the innovative idea.

“Laksala forging partnerships to tap global markets is an excellent opportunity for local craftsmen. However, they too need to understand the challenges such as boosting their capacities in terms of production, raw material, enhancing quality and design to be world class,” Dayasiri said.

It was pointed out that Lankan craftsmen would need to have products that appeal during seasons and festivals such as Halloween and Christmas. “This can be done whilst preserving the true Sri Lankan craft identity,” Dayasiri said.

The State Minister also plans to create an online database of all craftsmen and their products in a bid for Laksala to negotiate with global ecommerce cites such as Amazon and Alibaba to have Lankan craft on sale via their channels.