Ready-made Garment Exports from Sri Lanka

With the phasing out of the Multi-Fibre Arrangement (MFA), the Sri Lankan economy, highly dependent on ready-made garment exports, has become vulnerable to the changing global trading system affecting this industry. In such a global environment, strengthening the competitiveness of the industry has become imperative for Sri Lanka if it is to remain as one of the suppliers of choice in major markets. The paper highlights the strengths and weaknesses of the industry and shows the steps that have been taken to address the latter. Additional steps taken to select specific garment products according to past performance and global positioning for further improvement and promotion are also highlighted. The paper also suggests some strategies to cope up with the new global challenges.