State Minister of Batik, Handloom fabrics, and local Apparel Products Dayasiri Jayasekera says laws will be introduced for state employees to report for duty in batik or local apparel attires once a week in the future.
Prices of local products, such as batik sarees and other items, will be reduced to enable employees to purchase the required products.
Speaking to reporters after attending the inaugural session of the 09th Parliament of Sri Lanka yesterday (20), Minister Jayasekera said at present the batik and local apparel products industry has completely collapsed.
Measures have been taken to completely halt the imports of batik products. The importing of batik and apparel manufactured abroad is the main cause for the collapse of local batik and apparel products. The batik and local apparel industry has faced many challenges and issues due to this, he explained.
The Minister pointed out that Sri Lanka was thriving in producing batik and local apparel products in the past.
“In order to contribute to the rebuilding of our economy, we must introduce a program to manufacture our own clothing and handloom fabrics to strengthen the local apparel industry’, he said.
Minister Dayasiri Jayasekera further said many programs will be launched to address and strengthen the batik, handloom fabrics, and local apparel industry. (Newswire)