Sri Lankan handloom sarees are to be marketed by local bridal designers to assist around 15 thousand handloom weavers of Sri Lanka.
Country's leading bridal designers Senaka de Silva, Haris Wijesinghe and ten other designers have agreed to popularize locally made sarees among brides.
Ministry of Textile Industry has planned to organize a Bridal Show in Colombo to attract masses and educate them on locally made sarees.
It is scheduled to be inaugurated by Mrs.Mahinda Rajapakse on 3rd April, conveyed organizers.
However, they said that the quality of handmade sarees should be upgraded to compete with Indian versions.
The weavers claimed that their earnings were very low as middlemen had upperhand and their monthly income never exceeded two thousand rupees even if they manufacture a bridal saree.
Nearly ninety days were required to complete a handloom saree, they said.
Handloom Development Ministry informed that Sri Lankan exporters earned over 180 million rupees last year through the export of handloom material.
Presently local brides use Indian sarees costing around $100 to 1000 per saree, said Miss M N Kuruppu, Secretary to the Ministry of Textile Industries.
President of Sri Lanka has introduced a large number of programmes to create awareness among producers and guide them to produce value added products to develop local handloom industry, she said.
The ministry wants to introduce non traditional handloom items for local and the international markets to improve earnings, said Miss Kuruppu.
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