Source : Daily Mirror

The Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB), the premier State organisation dealing with the promotion and development of exports, once again stepped up its international marketing efforts by promoting Sri Lanka Apparel's leadership in ethical and sustainable manufacturing on the global stage.

Last month, with the support of EDB, Sri Lanka Apparel reinforced its international industry leadership with its unique industry positioning at the Women's Wear Daily (WWD) Sourcing and Supply Chain Forum in New York City.

Chairman of Sri Lanka Apparel A. Sukumaran appreciated the continued support of the EDB under the guidance of its Chairman and Chief Executive Anil Koswatte and his team. 

"At a time when Sri Lanka's apparel exports to the United States are on the decline, using these targeted promotions to the actual decision makers in sourcing is vital. Our joint efforts are crucial to reverse this negative trend and redirect the interest of apparel buyers towards Sri Lanka," he said.

Included in the sponsorship was an opportunity to present a thought leadership piece to this forum.
Kumar Mirchandani, who champions the marketing initiatives at Sri Lanka Apparel, presented 'The Garments Without Guilt Experience and the Ethical Dilemma,' highlighting the conflict of price over value for consumers and profits over ethics for the retailers and the manufacturers. 

He pointed out that "over the last decade as Asia emerged as the leading outsourcing destination for the global fashion industry, Sri Lanka stood alone as the only country that embraced ethical business and manufacturing practices as a way of life.  Yet, doing business ethically and in an environmentally-conscious way carries a cost which the consumers and retailers are yet to fully understand and accept."

However, Mirchandani opined that with growing inescapable global concerns and demand from consumers for ethical and environmentally responsible goods, brands and retailers will eventually form true partnerships with manufacturers in relationships that go beyond cost and price alone.

Mirchandani also stated that go forward trade is likely to be governed by ethical and sustainable standards and it is also possible that that any Trade Preference programme could be linked to compliance with such standards.
WWD, the fashion-industry trade journal often referred to as "The Bible of Fashion" gave press coverage to this presentation in its 23 March issue titled 'Suppliers Count on Service, Sustainability' and also on its website, wwd.com.

WWD is the flagship journal of Fairchild Publications, Inc. a unit of Condé Nast which publishes consumer publications such as Vogue and Glamour.

Secretary General of Sri Lanka Apparel Rohan Masakorala stated that presence at such events strengthens our long-term partnership with retailers, generates awareness and stimulates valuable top-tier networking and relationship building with top brands.

He also expressed the industry's appreciation of the Government's continued support through the Ministries of Finance, Industrial Development, Textiles and Export Development & International Trade for their proactive efforts in assisting industry positioning. 

"Through these collaborative efforts to create a national identity for the benefit of the entire industry, Sri Lanka Apparel is today the world's No.1 ethical apparel sourcing destination and the soon to be the undisputed leader in sustainable apparel production," he noted.

Previously, in November 2009,with the support of EDB, the participation of Sri Lanka Apparel in the WWD CEO's Summit (also in New York) shared the message of sustainable sourcing and supply chain solutions with the most important and sought after CEOs in the US apparel and retail industries.

At this event, Sri Lanka Apparel continued its efforts to showcase Sri Lanka's global authority and leadership in apparel manufacturing and production to key sourcing executives of major brands and retailers.

Amongst those present were executive/senior vice presidents and directors of sourcing of leading retailers such as Ann Taylor, Limited Brands, Tommy Hilfiger, JCrew, JanSport, PVH and VF Corporation among others.