China National Textile and Apparel Council entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Sri Lanka’s Joint Apparel Association Forum (JAAF) to uplift the sector severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. As per a Daily Mirror Online report, the key objectives of the MoU is to strengthen the working relationship between two associations to promote value chain cooperation, increase mutual visits, promote exchanges, and improve mutual trust among industry personnel.

Sri Lankan ambassador Palitha Kohona, believes the MoU will pave the way for China to become a key importer of Sri Lanka’s high-end apparels. A Sukuraman, Chairman, JAAF acknowledged the MoU as being timely for Sri Lanka with local apparel sector having faced the worst in 2020 due to the pandemic. He said the industry is confident of recovering in the next couple of years particularly as sectors, as casual, sports and leisure are a large part of the mix of products Sri Lanka manufactures.

Apparel and textile trade between China and Sri Lanka has expanded over the last three years and in 2019, the total textile and apparel trade between the two countries reached US$ 1.24 billion.