Eskimo expands to East with investment of over Rs. 120 m.

Eskimo Fashion Knitwear (Pvt) Limited, a 100% German owned, Board of Investment approved company opened its third factory recently in the Eastern Province in Punani. The factory is constructed on a 6.5 acre land leased from the Mahaweli Authority of Sri Lanka.

Eskimo Limited was incorporated in 1982 to manufacture and market knitwear for international markets. It was one of the earliest foreign investment projects launched when Sri Lanka commenced a program of economic liberalisation. Eskimo commenced operations with a modern and integrated production plant built on 19 acres of land located in Negombo, 28 years before. A second plant located in the Pallekele Industrial Estate was built in 1999 to augment sewing, cutting and handworking capacities. Currently Eskimo employees more than 2400 direct employees in these two factories.

The commercial rationale for this project in Punani is that Eskimo operates in a niche market and to cater for increasing demand, in its traditional Europe markets, it was essential that company increases capacities fast. The incentives provided by the Government of Sri Lanka for expansion under the Northern and Eastern development programs also made it interesting to go ahead with this project.