Fabric imports from India increased by 46 percent, Pakistan a 99 percent and Bangladesh increased by 2 percent. The Sri Lankan apparel industry imported US$ 143.9 million worth of fabric from South Asian countries in 2006, compared to US$ 87.8 million in three years ago.
According to Sukumaran,"Fabric imports from the region increased by 64 percent in value terms from 2003 to 2006. The biggest growth is imports from Pakistan that has increased by 99 percent. But regional fabric imports are still only 12 percent of total fabric imports".
According to the EU's GSP+, scheme Sri Lankan apparel exporters can use the GSP+ to export duty free into the EU, by sourcing inputs from the South Asian region. In the first quarter of this year garment exports into the EU increased by 21 percent year on year.
Sri Lanka has requested that the EU relax some of the GSP+ rules. Given the high import, dependence of the garment industry Sri Lanka has asked that the domestic value addition requirement be reduced from over 50 percent at present, to 35 percent. The EU is yet to announce a decision on this request.
Fibre2fashion News Desk - Sri Lanka
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