Sri Lanka Apparel Sector

[phil.froelich]

Mon, 11 February 2008 22:03:12
LBO >> Industries
Eco Brand
11 February 2008 07:01:43
By Vathsala Yatagamage
Sri Lanka garments could shine with eco-friendly manufacture: Marks & Spencer


Feb 11, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka can gain a marketing edge by making garments in a more environmentally friendly manner, an official from Britain’s Marks and Spencer (M&S) department store said.

"The good thing about doing business responsibly is that, a responsible business can still be a profitable business," says Neil Hacket the country manager for Marks and Spencer in Sri Lanka.

Marks and Spencer has over 600 outlets within the UK and 240 outside. Sri Lanka is one of its five sourcing offices outside the United Kingdom.

The department store last year launched a five year project called Plan A, which focuses on the environment.

"It is Plan 'A' because there is simply no Plan B for the environment," says Hacket.

"Our statement is: by 2012 we will become carbon neutral, we will send no waste for land fill, we will extend sustainable sourcing and set new standards in ethical trading," he said.

M&S says some of its suppliers are successfully recycling cotton waste and it is hoping to persuade more Sri Lanka manufactures to follow the same path

Cotton waste from cutting rooms are separated into bags according to color and exported to places where it is recycled.

"Over the last six months we have been sending 75 thousand tons of waste from Sri Lanka. This is only from three suppliers," Hacket said.

"We hope to roll it through out the rest of our 18 suppliers in the island."

The recycled cotton waste can be reused in milk cartons and various other products. It can also be knitted and re-used in the garment making process.

Last year the company sold over 200,000 garments made out of thread from recycled plastics.

Sri Lanka’s apparel industry, which does not use child labour, has already branded itself with its 'Garments Without Guilt' campaign in a bid to improve its commitment to 'responsible' manufacture.



http://www.lankabusinessonline.com/f...SEARCH_TERM=17

[saraprobe]

Sri Lanka’s top apparel exporter Brandix has implemented the first stage of a visionary plan to take the apparel solutions provider beyond the manufacture and export of apparel to becoming a massive knowledge-based company that could ‘in-source’ the business processing requirements of top international retail brands.

The company last week formally inaugurated Brandix Mercury, a sophisticated Shared Services Centre (SSC) at the World Trade Centre in Colombo to drive a ‘Transformation for Growth’ or ‘T4G’ plan that will initially undertake an optimisation of financial processes across the group and be a strategic partner to its 25 business units.

Mandated to bring about a measurable group-wide increase in efficiency by providing centralised transaction processing to decision-support, the Centre has already taken over 95 per cent of the financial accounting processes of the Brandix Group and brought together most of the personnel responsible for these processes.

Speaking at the inauguration of Brandix Mercury, Brandix Chairman Ken Balendra said the Shared Services Centre was an initiative that the Board had backed to the hilt. Pointing out that the establishment of such centres is now the trend the world over, he said he looked forward to hearing of the vast strides and material benefits that would arise as a result of this initiative.

Brandix CEO Ashroff Omar said the Centre has the potential to expand its capabilities to offer similar value-added services to its top international customer base. Stressing that “our vision is to grow this into a massive knowledge-based company,” Mr. Omar said: “We have excellent contacts with the world’s best brands and the best retailers. Extending our concept of inspired solutions to encompass value-added services is therefore a logical step.”

The Shared Services Centre, whose primary task will be transforming finance for growth, will be responsible for process standardisation, process documentation and the harmonisation of accounting standards and practices across the Brandix Group and the alignment of all financial accounting policies with Group policy and goals.

One of its objectives will be to move the processes within strategic business units from different schools of thought to best practices that lead to long term value creation. Nadun Fernando, a former Chief Financial Officer of one of the clusters within the Brandix Group has been appointed Head of Shared Services.

According to Kishan Jayasekera, Chief Operating Officer - Group Treasury & Business Services, the Centre’s remit will cover people, processes and technology and its role will encompass driving process excellence, customer satisfaction and cost reduction, managing risk and measuring and monitoring business performance.

Brandix Lanka Ltd

[phil.froelich]

Awesome, It would be great if all Apparel giants could handle all aspects of business within their own companies and without help from any other companies for special services...

[saraprobe]

The average maintenance cost per worker in the local apparel sector is three times higher than other countries in the region.

CEO of Orit Apparels Lanka (Pvt) Ltd and Board member, BOI Channa P. Palansuriya said comparing with other countries in the region local apparel industry bears the highest average of maintaining cost per worker. "The average maintaining cost per worker is USD 150 to USD 200 in Sri Lanka and this is USD 60 in countries like Bangladesh and China," he said.

The minimum wages of a worker is also higher than the wages paid by the other countries in the region. "At present the minimum wage of a worker in the apparel industry is Rs 6750 and average wage is Rs 12500. Companies in the local apparel industry invest heavily in workers' welfare and improve their working environments. Most of the companies provide meals and other facilities to their workers," he said.

Speaking at the launch of "Abhimani", campaign to pay tribute to all the dedicated women who work in the apparel industry he said there is a trend of many workers moving towards the job opportunities available in garment factories in their hometown.

"There are 12,000 job opportunities in the local apparel industry. Average retention rate of these workers is five years. The country will honour these dedicated women through the Abhimani campaign.

It will shed light on many services rendered by young women who work in the garment sector, one of the country's biggest income generators. The young females in the sector, from the machine operators to female executives are all responsible for earning the largest export revenues in their country," he added.

"This is a public and private sector initiative and the total investment for the campaign is Rs 29 million," he said.

Chairman of the Joint Apparel Association Forum JAAF, Ajith Dias said, the apparel sector, which generates 45 per cent of the country's export earnings, is almost completely powered by women.

"The industry directly employs nearly 300,000 people. Through this campaign industry expects to have proper recognition of the workers in the apparel industry and create positive attitude among society," he said.

"Many of the employees undergo training in technology, human resources development and soft skills development and are able to take advantage of a range of schemes and services provided to them by their employers. The industry provides ample opportunities mainly for female employees to progress in their career," he added.

CEO of Ogilvy Action Sandya Salgado said research conducted prior to the campaign showed that there is a positive attitude among rural masses on workers in the industry.

"We spoke to school heads, monks in the villages. They believe that women who work in the apparel industry drives the national economy and plays important role in the society. We also identified that public need to be educated more on the skills and carrier development in this sector," she said.

The campaign will be officially launched on World Women's Day and will continue for five to six months covering all parts of the country.

DN

[saraprobe]

March 5, 2008 (LBO) - Sri Lanka's key clothing industry is rolling out a publicity blitz to attract shop floor workers to fill nearly 12,000 vacancies in plants across the island, industry officials said.

A 280,000-dollar campaign will hit the local airwaves this week, as a team of recruiters and animators target 150 rural villages to attract young girls to join factories to help cut and sew clothes.

"Over 90 percent of the industry is in the hands of women from machine operators to executives," said Sandya Salgado, CEO of Ogilgy Outreach, the advertising agency that is pushing out the six-month promotional campaign.

"These young girls have in the past earned money to send their siblings to school, build houses for their parents and generally uplift the living standards of their families," she said.

Sri Lanka's 3.5 billion dollar garment industry is vital to the economy of the country, already wracked by over three-decades of bloody ethnic civil war which has slowed growth.

More than half of Sri Lanka's annual seven billion dollars worth of export earnings come from clothing and the industry employs nearly one million of the nation's 20 million people.

"We currently have vacancies for between 10,000 to 12,000 people, mostly in factories in the industrial parks," said Ajith Dias, chairman of Joint Apparel Association Forum, an industry apex body.

Sri Lanka's apparel and textile industry was hard hit in late 2004 by the end of the multi-fibre agreement, which guaranteed export market quotas.

The number of factories have since shrunk from about 800 to 350 after textile quotas were lifted in 2005. Some factories closed down, while others merged with bigger plants, to get economies of scale.

Some of the larger plant owners have set up factories in the villages to make it easier for workers to travel from homes, without living in private lodges around factories based closed to main cities. "As a result, factories situated in industrial zones find it difficult to attract women to work. They prefer to work in factories closer to their homes," said Channa Palansooriya, who heads Orit Apparels.

Nearly all Sri Lanka's garments made for export are shipped to the United States and the European Union.

But clothing exporters are feeling the pinch as their largest buyer, the United States, suffers from its worst slowdown in 16 years, the World Bank said in latest Global Economic prospects for 2008.

Also to get greater access into key markets, Sri Lanka is seeking to sell itself globally as "an ethical manufacturer" where employees work in air conditioned factories.

"We don't employ child labour and our people don't work in sweatshops," said Dias.

Aggravating the situation for the island's textile industry is annual inflation that is running at 20 percent which has pushed up input costs such as wages, said Dias.

Minimum wages start at 6,750 rupees (63 dollars), with allowances and overtime payments pushing average take home pay to between 10,000 to 15,000 rupees (93 to 139 dollars) for shopfloor workers, officials said.

However the rupee strengthened later in the wake of foreign borrowings and tight monetary policy making conditions even tougher for exporters.

[phil.froelich]

Interesting, but 10,000-12,000 worker shortage is quite a lot...

[saraprobe]

TIDM introduces ‘Electronic Monitoring System’ to guard 2008

Sri Lanka had lost 40% earnings in the garments and apparel experts amounting to US$1.3 billion(Rs.113 billion), FOREX earnings due to defrauds or not being remitted to the country last year. A top state official disclosed yesterday.

Taking situation in to consideration the Textile Industry Development Ministry(TIDM) is currently in the process of introducing an ‘Electronic Monitoring System’ (EMS) to keep a tab on FOREX earnings from the export of garment and apparel industries a senior official of the department said.

According to the senior official the total export earnings from Garment and Apparel industry in 2007 stood at US$ 3.34 billion or Rs. 306 billion. The authorities believe that the correct earnings from export of garment and apparel in 2007 must be well over US$ 5 billion mark.

Acting Director, Textile Quota Board (TQB) Udeni Udugahapattuwa explaining the new mechanism, the EMS, told Daily FT that the new system will link the BOI, Central Bank, the Sri Lanka Customs, Export Development Board, the Department of Commerce and (TQB) through an electronic network to maintain and update the information pertaining to all activities and transactions of garment and apparel exports from the allocation of quota to each sector or factories to the destination of the exports.

“We have contracted the PriceWaterhouse & Coopers for a system study and we expect their report in two or three weeks. The EMS will maintain a data base with round the clock update of garment and apparel export including their local and foreign prices and number of pieces exported,” she said.

Sri Lanka has successfully penetrated the vast Indian market for garment and apparel exports with an enhanced quota allocation for the year 2008 under the FTA. The quota allocation has been increased to 3.2 million pieces for this year to the Indian market from a poor 800,000 of pieces last year, Mrs. Udugahapattuwa said.

About 406 garment and apparel companies are in operation in the country and the products are exported to mainly to the US, Europe, Japan and now India. The TQB is to undergo a restructuring programme shortly and necessary legal amendments are attended by the legal Draftsman at the moment, she said.

DM

[phil.froelich]

Wow losing more than a Billion USD would have been bad, but good to see some awareness and change...

[saraprobe]

March 14, 2008 (LBO) – Fabric manufacturer Textured Jersey Lanka (TJL) has started operations at its expanded facility in Sri Lanka and says it aims to double capacity in the next two years.

The company, a joint collaboration between Pacific Textiles Hong Kong, a knitwear manufacturer, and Brandix Lanka, one of Sri Lanka’s leading apparel makers, makes weft knitted (a highly elastic and drape-able) fabric and dyed fabric.

"We remain very bullish with this expansion and aim to double the capacity in the next two years,” managing director of Brandix Lanka Ashroff Omar was quoted as saying in a company statement.

Textured Jersey Lanka was established to serve the large and expanding Sri Lankan apparel industry.

"Overseas customers were exerting pressure on Sri Lanka to reduce its lead times, improve flexibility and invest locally in the downstream supply chain," Omar said.

"Today, everyone wants innovation, flexibility and speed at an affordable price."

Chairman of TJL and Pacific Textiles Hong Kong Bill Lam said that having begun as a small commercial operation producing about 150,000 meters of fabric a month, today TJL has a capacity of 2.5 million meters per month of finished fabric.

TJL employs over 1,200 people at its 18 acre site at the Seethawaka industrial park, south west of Colombo.

Textured Jersey Lanka chief executive Rohan Goonetilleke said that despite the latest expansion, the firm has potential to further expand and has already invested in land and infrastructure for the next expansion planned for 2009/10.

"Today, 40-50 percent of Sri Lanka’s cotton knit fabric is still imported," he explained. "At present Textured Jersey caters to all known cotton mixes including poly-cotton, cotton Lyrca, model Lycra, viscose cotton and 100 percent cotton."

Only around 20 percent of production is currently 100 percent cotton, the company statement said, with most being high end mixes, whilst special finishes like moisture management and sueding are also on the increase.

The company's customers include the UK’s Next and Marks and Spencer, USA’s Victoria’s Secret, Nike, Ann Taylor and The Limited and Italy’s Intimissimi.

Local manufacturers making up the fabric for export include MAS, Brandix, Martins, Hirdaramani and Omega Line.

[phil.froelich]

Interesting, hope we can become self sufficient in this field, boost production, cut down on imports and yield the benefits of it all...

[saraprobe]

CMBMay 11, Colombo: A new garment factory will be established under President Mahinda Rajapaksa's "Negenahira Navodaya" (Eastern Awakening) programme to develop the Eastern province.

The investing company, the Brandix Group, opted to set up this new project which was part of the BOI’s effort to attract much needed investment in the region.

The complex will be built at Rideetenna, Welikanda in of Pollonaruwa district by the Brandix Group, a leading manufacturer of garments and textiles in Sri Lanka.

The total investment of this project would be around Rs. 340 million and it will generate 455 direct employment opportunities at the initial stage. This will increase to 2,500 at capacity. The project will be set up on a 10 acre land mainly owned by the Mahaweli Authority of Sri Lanka which was handed over to Brandix.

The Eastern Province needs investment to build up its local economy and to create new opportunities for the people living in the area.

[phil.froelich]

Excellent news...

[Gamarala]

This week I'm in Sri Lanka, on the front line of Marks & Spencer's eco-revolution...

It’s hot, sweaty and frenetic on Colombo’s streets at this time of year, as the monsoon rain sheets down. The scene inside the Brandix eco-factory, however, is one of calm, quiet industry in a carefully temperature- and humidity-controlled environment. Piped music of tropical birds fills the air to accompany the gentle whizz and whirr of the sewing machines.

The Brandix plant at Seeduwa, in Colombo’s suburbs, is Sri Lanka’s answer to the call of Sir Stuart Rose’s Plan A. Ashroff Omar, the far-sighted CEO of Brandix, can see which way the sustainable wind is blowing and has just spent £1.25m converting one of his older apparel factories into this ‘green’ establishment; as a result, carbon emissions are down by 75%, energy usage by 45% and water consumption by 60%. There’s a new a/c system, natural lighting, rainwater is collected and none of the waste goes to landfill. To celebrate the opening, Lasith ‘the Slinger’ Malinga from the national cricket team was hired to show Al Gore’s ‘Inconvenient Truth’ movie (with Singhalese subtitles) to the entire Brandix workforce of 1600.

Sir Stuart, who visited in April to cut the ribbon, is pleased – and so is Mr Omar, who generously described the M&S knight as ‘probably the world’s most potent warrior saving the environment’. The (mostly female) 300 employees at Seeduwa earn about £80 per month for a 57 hour week and get 90 days paid maternity leave. In a Bangladeshi sweat shop, says one Brandix manager, the figure is only £25 per month.

As the slowdown bites and pressure on suppliers by UK retailers grows ever stronger, this sort of endeavour will be put to the test. Brandix turns over £170m a year and operates above the cut-throat basement market - it does shorter orders of more complicated items and can turn batches round quickly. But the eco-factor is now one of the new forces in globalization. With fuel costs rising so rapidly, Brandix knows this eco-refit will pay for itself in 4 years. And who knows, maybe Plan B will eventually demand that suppliers adopt environmentally friendly working practices. Brandix also produces garments for Abercrombie & Fitch and Gap, while its biggest customer is Victoria’s Secret – but so far it’s the Europeans who have shown more interest in sustainability.

But the Sri Lankans are now anxious. After the tsunami wrecked its eastern coastline, they were given an exemption from EU import tariffs on textiles (40% of Lankan exports go to Europe and tourism has been dealt a blow by the unpredictable security situation, as the bitter war with the Tamil Tiger LTTE continues in the North). This tax exemption is now up for review and could, if removed, add 10 per cent to the cost of a pair of Sir Stuart’s underpants.

Tomorrow, by the way, I meet a reformed Tiger boy soldier just made a Chief Minister...

http://www.managementtoday.co.uk/sea...en-underpants/

"Tomorrow"'s (unrelated) article
http://www.managementtoday.co.uk/cha...og-tiger-tail/

[saraprobe]

Texstyle Lanka Private Limited signed an agreement with the BOI to manufacture garments for export.

The cost of the project, which is located at Boralessgamuwa is US$ 718,000 and the company will be employing 175 workers. Texstyle Lanka exports 80% of all its production to the British Ministry of Defence.

Ananda Bandara, an engineer by profession, who has many years of experience in the textile industry. He founded the company as a garments buying and liaison office and got into manufacturing with his vast experience.

Over the years he developed his knowledge in a very specialized area in the manufacture of garments, such as flying suits and equipment used by military and aerospace professionals.

Mrs. Hemali Bandara, his spouse, is also a company Director is well experienced in the textiles and garments manufacturing. Her knowledge of the garments industry included experience working for Hentley Garments, May Department Stores International and also at Liz Claiborne.

The company has been in existence since 2003 when it had just 9 employees as a modern sample-manufacturing unit. In 2004 it increased it staff strength to 75 employees. In 2006 Texstyle Lanka began producing aircrew coveralls and contracted with RFD Beaufort UK, main supplier to the British Ministry of Defence.

The true knit unit was started in 2007 to supply sweaters, pullovers and cardigans to the UK market for labels such BHS, Chums, Woodwille, Heatons and other brands. In 2008, the company workforce was expanded to 120 employees.

Texstyle Lanka is the only Sri Lankan Company to supply United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence. The main buyer of the company is RFD Beaufort Private Limited, a British company that supplies safety, military, aerospace and survival clothing equipment for the British Ministry of Defence and other countries as well.

For such production very advanced machinery is used to produce the garments needed to equip and protect fast jet pilots and parachutists.

Other products include suits for aircrews and for ground crews. Anti G trousers that counteract the forces of gravity are also among the goods produced and exported by the company.

Furthermore they produce and supply fabric sea anchors used in life rafts for survival operations, in addition to specialized working clothes and helicopter flying suits for those employed on oilrigs. Future advanced products will include advanced garments such as tri-laminate immersion suits and submarine escape survival kits.

Ananda Bandara, Chairman and Managing Director and Mrs Hemali Bandara, Director of the company and Dhammika Perera, Chairman/ Director General of the BOI, signed the Agreement. Dr Sarath Amunugama, Minister of Enterprise Development and Investment Promotion formally handed over the BOI Certificate of Registrations to the investor.

DN

[phil.froelich]

Great project, quite sophisticated stuff, I think these kind of niche services are the way forward for the Sri Lankan economy, value-added goods, which can be sold at high prices...

[saraprobe]

Stretchline helps develop the Speedo LZR Racer, the world’s fastest swimsuit


When a group of the world’s best swimmers like Michael Phelps from the US prepare to clinch as many gold as possible at the Beijing Games, a Sri Lankan group will enjoy every part of that success.

Stretchline Holdings, part of MAS Holdings Group, is taking Sri Lanka into the international limelight, as two of its innovations have been instrumental in the development of the world’s fastest swimsuit -- the Speedo LZR Racer. This cutting edge creation is all about reducing drag in the water, and the key to the success of the suit are two very unique products developed solely by Stretchline -- stay4sure and Bondelast, according to a company spokesman.

Speedo is arguably the world’s largest swimsuit manufacturer and is sponsoring over 30 athletes from eight countries including the likes of Emily Seebohm and Grant Hackett from Australia and Pelps and Dara Torres from the US. The Olympics began on Friday with the swimming events running till August 17. In an exclusive to The Sunday Times FT, Timothy Speldewinde, CEO of Stretchline Holdings said his company is “proud to be a part of this amazing partnership bonded together for Olympian heights.” Mr Speldewinde, a Sri Lankan national swimmer of repute in the late 1970s, said it is “also a proud day for Sri Lanka with this innovative creation.”

The company spokesman said that since the launch of the Speedo LZR Racer in February this year, swimmers have broken 52 world records while wearing it. “There will be more records broken at the Games with the help of the speediest-ever swimsuit in which Sri Lanka is a part of,” he said. Sri Lanka is competing in eight sports with Daniel Lee and Mayumi Raheem being the swimmers on the team. However the duo is not among the Speedo-sponsored swimmers though they are mostly likely to be attired in a Speedo swimsuit, like many other swimmers taking part.

Explaining the innovative product, the spokesman said Stay4sure is applied to the ankles of each leg to hold them firmly in place. The patented “sticky” silicone gently adheres to the skin and forms an extra seal to help keep the suit in place during use. “Bondelast, seam reinforcement tape is bonded over the top of the ultra-sonically welded seams to hold the garment together.

The Bondelast product with its 250 Newton seam strength eliminates the need for stitching, thereby resulting in a seamless garment thus making it, the world’s first fully bonded swimsuit,” he added.
Stretchline Holdings is headquarted in Hong Kong and is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of elastics producing 1.5 million metres of elastic a day. In February 2008, the company won the 2008 Femmy Award for Innovation in the Intimate Apparel Industry, a globally recognised award, the spokesman said.

This is the second time that MAS Holdings is playing an important role in the Olympics. At the 2004 Games in Athens, Linea Aqua, a MAS unit, was among suppliers who sewed the SPEEDO swimsuits used by dozens of swimmers, many who won gold.

ST

[lordvader]

Nice to hear! A lot of new records have been made in this suit.

[saraprobe]

Sri Lanka’s apparel sector inspiration Brandix has achieved a world first across all sectors, with its Green Factory in Seeduwa becoming the first apparel manufacturing facility in the world to be rated Platinum under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System of the US Green Building Council (USGBC).

The 130,000 square-foot Brandix Eco Centre, Brandix Casualwear’s lead manufacturing plant for global giant Marks & Spencer, achieved a score of 76 on the 85-point LEED certification system, setting a global benchmark for low energy consumption, water conservation, solid waste management and low carbon emissions.

It is the only converted Green Factory in the world to receive the Platinum rating, the highest standard in eco-friendly manufacture.

Formally inaugurated on April 25 this year by Marks & Spencer CEO Sir Stuart Rose, the plant converted into an Eco Centre at a cost of US $ 3 million has achieved a reduction of carbon emissions by 80 per cent, an energy saving of 46 per cent, a reduction of water consumption of 58 per cent and zero solid waste to landfill, eco-friendly indicators as yet unmatched by any re-designed Green Plant anywhere in the world.

“This is possibly one of the most satisfying milestones achieved by Brandix in its short but meteoric history,” commented AJ Johnpillai, Director Brandix.

“The fact that it is a global first for us, our country and the apparel industry worldwide, makes it all the more significant, and is a huge shot in the arm for our apparel sector in these challenging times.”

He said the score of 76 achieved by Brandix, 12 points higher than the 64 required for Platinum status, demonstrated the degree to which the Brandix Eco Centre had exceeded the planet’s highest Green Factory rating.

“This is also a tribute to the local engineering skills available and in particular to our consultants Energy Solve International, whose knowledge and commitment were invaluable.”

The conversion of the 30 year old factory into a Green manufacturing location was made more challenging by the LEED requirement that at least 50 per cent of the occupants of the building had to remain in service inside the building during its conversion, and Brandix’s determination that the energy conservation ratings required would be achieved with air-conditioning, another requirement for Platinum status. Air-conditioning accounts for about 70 per cent of the energy consumed in a garment factory.

To meet the requirements of LEED certification, Brandix invested in the latest screw-type chiller unit patented in the US to provide energy-efficient air-conditioning for the entire factory, which comprises of three sewing plants.

Square ducts were converted to round ducts to reduce distribution losses, and a 75mm insulation and heat-reflective panel was introduced into the roof.

The windows were enlarged to provide more light and a better view out to workers, and the glass replaced with special glass with a high solar reflective index.

www.fibre2fashion.com

[phil.froelich]

Awesome stuff...

[saraprobe]

The latest BOI Company to open under the 300 Enterprises Programme is the garment manufacturing plant of Benji Ltd., constructed at Bingiriya, Chilaw.

Dott Sandro Veronesi, President of Calzedonia Spa, an Italian company will formally open this latest state of the art factory today. Benji’s decision to open 5 manufacturing plants in Sri Lanka is proof of their confidence in the island’s investment climate.

According to BOI, the investment of this project totals Rs.1.75 Billion and employment generated is 2,000. Hence Benji Ltd. will play an important role in creating new opportunities for the people of Bingiriya. The factory is part of the 300 Enterprises Programme, which is a progressive scheme of the Government of Sri Lanka to bring employment and other economic benefits to under developed areas of Sri Lanka.

Benji’s products will be exported to European and North American markets under world renowned brand names such as Calzedonia, Intimissimi and Tezenis and other reputed brands.

DM