Sri Lankan corporates shun Asian Cities
The China World Travel Fair scheduled to be held in Guangzhou later this month has been cancelled by authorities. However, the World Travel Fair in Shanghai scheduled to be held in April has not been cancelled by the Chinese authorities and Sri Lanka is currently going ahead with the necessary preparations to attend the fair.
But there are concerns about the epidemic and in this regard, authorities would be taking a decision later on whether they would actually participate at the event. Another travel show scheduled for March in Singapore has been postponed to May as more and more companies are concerned about travelling to Asian destinations.
Trade impact
Traders are concerned that imports of mobile phones, printer cartridges, printers, computers and accessories is likely to be adversely impacted as Sri Lanka is a large buyer of these items from China.
The Chinese factories have not opened up for operations due to the virus outbreak and the extension of the holiday week by the Chinese government.
The incidence of the epidemic is set to create an impact on one of Sri Lanka’s largest exporter, the apparel industry as China is the largest supplier of raw materials and fabrics.
Currently, each manufacturer is in discussion with the individual Chinese factories regarding the next shipment of raw materials and fabrics but at present there is a “lot of uncertainty,” Sri Lanka Apparel Exporters Association (SLEA) Rehan Lakahny told the Business Times on Friday.
He noted that the industry is still “waiting to see the impact” but they believe there is potential for “quite an impact.”
The apparel industry generally awaits their fabrics and raw materials shipments soon after the Chinese New Year.
But issues have arisen since the holiday period has been extended and transportation disrupted and some factories closed as a result of the current situation in China, Mr. Lakahny said.
He explained, under the circumstances they were unaware of the real shipment dates and following this they would have to negotiate the shipments of garments individually with their own end customers if delays do occur.