Garment and tea businesses as usual

Hiran H. Senewiratne

EXPORTS: Garment and tea exporters yesterday said their businesses were unaffected by the recent aborted attack on the Katunayake Air Force base.

Although certain sections of the foreign media speculated that Sri Lanka’s garment and tea exporters might lose orders, industry sources said export orders were intact.

However, Brandix Lanka Ltd - Chief Executive Officer, Ashroff Omar told the Daily News that the impact on the garment sector is minimal following the incident which could be managed without any problem.

He further said that, due to human concerns a few foreigners have cancelled their visit to Sri Lanka, which has no impact on the industry.

President - Apparel Association, Channa Palansooriya said the garment industry is intact and there are no cancellations of orders so far.

Palansooriya said certain sections of the international media were giving a wrong picture on this issue.

Past President - Apparel Association Sydney Gajanayake said they have not come across any immediate cancellation of orders after the incident.

Gajanayake who is also the Co-Chairman of JAAF said that we could bounce back without any problem.

Tea industry sources also said there has been no major impact on the sector and it is now fetching attractive prices.