Sri Lanka's apparel forum urges key reforms at Colombo port to stay competitive

Colombo, Nov 7 (PTI) An apex body of Sri Lanka’s apparel exporters on Friday demanded reforms at the Colombo port and claimed that traders are losing their competitiveness in the region due to its efficiency plagued by delays.

“While Sri Lanka struggles with inefficiency, our regional competitors are moving ahead. India’s new Vizhinjam Port and others in Singapore and Dubai now offer seamless digital coordination, faster vessel turnaround, and fully automated systems.

“As a result, some of the transshipment traffic that once came through Colombo is now being diverted,” the Joint Apparel Association Forum (JAAF) statement said.

The JAAF pointed out how over the past few months, several shipping lines have started bypassing Colombo, sometimes just a day or two before arrival.

The bypassing of Colombo of ships laden with containers carrying fabric, zippers, buttons, or trims meant either unloaded at another port or arrived days later, the JAAF statement released by its chief Yohan Lawrence said.

“For manufacturers working on tight schedules, even a small delay can cause missed production deadlines, late deliveries, or the need to airfreight finished goods at much higher cost to meet deadlines agreed with customers.” JAFF stresses that the real issue lies in how the port operates. Delays in moving containers between terminals, outdated manual systems, and slow coordination between port agencies have all combined to create a serious bottleneck.

JAAF calls on the government “to focus on operational reform streamlining digital pre-clearance, improving cargo tracking, and ensuring seamless coordination between terminals.” There was no immediate comment from the government.

The development comes weeks after Sri Lankan traders faced a new tariff on exports to the US, one of the largest destinations for the island nations.

Earlier, the US announced a 20 per cent tariff on Sri Lankan exports, effective August 7.

The rate, down from earlier announced 44 per cent, had placed Sri Lanka on par with key competitors in the garments export industry such as Bangladesh and Vietnam, top government negotiator Harshana Suriyapperuma had said then. PTI CORR NPK NPK