Study Focused on the Barriers to the Exportation of Garments in the Apparel Industry of Sri Lanka

Over the years Sri Lankan apparel export industry has proven as one of the most significant contributors to the nation’s economy. However, impending to development it has faced many problems which can be described as barriers within the environment of industrial work floor and barriers within the regulatory agencies. Author carried out research on barriers within regulatory agencies, for successful exportation of garments to overseas. Concept was analyzed in relation to the existing studies, as how to promote profitable expansion of garment industries and improve the economic growth in Sri Lanka. Project identified ways to solve selected issues such as achieving quality and authorizing requirements, passing goods examination at Customs, VAT registration renewal, document declaration problems and space-booking problems at airlines and shipping lines which are encountered at the point of exportation while exporting goods to overseas. Quantitative and qualitative findings were incorporated to propose a web-based business solution named Samodh-Soft Solutions-(www.samodha.com) which acts as a virtual expert performing the manual processes conducted by exporters starting from quality testing until the shipment is done. Observing the evaluation of users regarding the applicability towards resolving the problem; it’s evident that respondents were satisfied with system functionalities provided to support the business requirements. In expert evaluation industry experts and academics appreciated the work achieved. Author believes that proposed solution has the capacity to increase efficiency and effectiveness of apparel exportation of Sri Lanka. Furthermore this solution can be extended to other industries with certain customization to establish economic growth and sustainability of Sri Lanka