Sri Lanka footwear industry - growth and future prospects

By Ranjith Hettiarachchy

The Government has identified the footwear industry as a thrust industry. The footwear industry has export potential and can take the country forward. The advantages are:

Ranjith Hettiarachchy

*Ability to generate employment as it is a labour intensive industry.
* As Sri Lanka has reached world-class in the garment industry, the footwear industry can also follow this.

* Availability of labour that can be trained fast.
* Availability of quality leather in South Asian countries.

From 2002 successive governments introduced and supported a special 'safety net' for the local footwear industry. This was done to protect the local footwear industry from cheap imports and groom the industry towards export promotion. This helped us to survive at a critical period.

"We observed that before the introduction of the industry-friendly duty revision, several industrial giants faded from the Sri Lankan industrial landscape. Along with this the Government introduced a wide range of changes in the duty structure.

* Import of machinery was made duty free to encourage the flow of technology at minimum cost.

* Import duty on moulds was given a downward revision. Import duty for moulds stand at 15 percent of the CIF value.

* Leather import was made duty free for industrialists.
* Basic raw material was made duty free.
* For local value addition of 35 percent, duty free access was granted under ISFTA.

* Commenced footwear training courses in two state institutions to improve footwear-producing technology.

* Special training facilities were arranged for designers and footwear technicians by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce at the Footwear Design and Development Institute in India.

The footwear industry in Sri Lanka is now ready to keep its footprint in the international market. The figures for 2012 show that even with the recession in the importing countries we have managed to maintain the same level of achievement compared to 2011.

Sri Lanka's exports of footwear and leather products in 2012 were $10 and $16 million.

The writer is the Chairman of the Footwear Advisory Council. (M Ind.Com)