Sri Lanka Wants to Import Workers to Boost Struggling Apparel Industry

Workers in Sri Lanka's apparel industry are seeking government concessions to allow them to import labor from surrounding economies, like Nepal and Bangladesh, to help support the country's shortage of skilled workers. Harsha de Silva, Sri Lanka's deputy minister for national policies and economic affairs said that thousands of jobs are open in Sri Lanka's apparel industry in industrial zones.

Sri Lanka is struggling compared to countries like Bangladesh, whose apparel industry is booming, de Silva said, according to Fibre 2 Fashion. He added that, unless Sri Lanka is able to level the playing field in terms of technological developments and manufacturing ability, it won't be able to move forward and compete with the bigger players.

Speaking at a seminar organized by the Sri Lanka-USA Business Council of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, Sri Lankan workers said they don't want to take low-level jobs in the apparel industry.

As companies in other parts of the world, like Ethiopia and even the U.S., ramp up their apparel manufacturing, its more crucial now for countries like Sri Lanka to work on catching up, lest they be left behind.