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Sectoral Oversight Committee to Intervene in the Issues of the Sri Lanka Garment Manufacturing and Export Industries
The Sectoral Oversight Committee on Alleviating the Impact of the Economic Crisis recently summoned the Joint Apparel Association Forum Sri Lanka (JAAFSL), which is the organization representing garment manufacturing and exporting industries, before the Committee. This committee which met in Parliament recently under the chairmanship of Member of Parliament Gamini Waleboda discussed the problems and future activities of the garment industry in Sri Lanka. Garment manufacturers said that due to the impact of the economic crisis, some factories in the apparel sector established in Sri Lanka have closed their factories and are establishing their industries abroad. They further mentioned that the currently operating factories are producing less than 25% of the total capacity. They also pointed out that due to the increase in costs due to raw material duties and electricity charges, their competitiveness in the international market has decreased and the receipt of new orders has decreased very seriously.
It was also pointed out that about 3-1/2 lakh direct jobs and 3 lakh indirect jobs have been provided to the country by this industry.
"lakh" is a term used to denote one hundred thousand. It is derived from the Indian numbering system and is commonly used in South Asian countries including Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal. Therefore, when you refer to a "lakh" in Sri Lanka, it represents a numerical value of 100,000.
Apart from this, the garment manufacturers also presented information to the committee about the difficulties they have faced due to the non-reimbursement of billions of VAT (Value-Added Tax). It was pointed out that there is a possibility that the garment industry will completely collapse if the SVAT (Single Value Added Tax) system is removed in the face of threats such as rising production costs including electricity bills, imposition of new taxes, collapse of the world market and decrease in orders.
Accordingly, the committee assured us that before removing the SVAT system, it would intervene to introduce a suitable system for the protection of the industry. The committee acknowledged the need for a system to manage taxes until an automatic VAT Refund system is implemented and its chairman, Gamini Waleboda, assured that the committee will work to submit a report containing the recommendations to the Parliament and the government as soon as possible. Source: ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
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