SECTOR PERSPECTIVES
Ricocheting Business
Textrip renews prospects for the rubber industry through wellness wisdom
Q: In your view, what are the major challenges facing the rubber industry?
A: The many questions cited by exporters would be a long read and for want of space, we refer only to funding for R&D and the scarcity of latex as major issues with no easy answers.
An exporter centric R&D funding mechanism is the order of the day while preventing outer migration of estate labour. Otherwise, this will create a labour vacuum and make our plantations barren unless it is made lucrative to live on.
Many programmes are followed by the Rubber Production Commissioners (RPCs) and they need to fine-tune these strategies.
In addition, with the experience gained from the industry, we believe the profit sharing mechanism would be a better solution.
Furthermore, it is a case of developing plantations in areas such as replanting as an immediate solution, preventing haphazard uprooting of rubber trees and avoiding slaughter tapping.
Q: What changes has the rubber industry undergone due to COVID-19?
A: The rubber industry in Sri Lanka deserves special mention in terms of the national economy and its impact on cross border transactions.
The COVID-19 induced curfew and sanitary requirements prevented factories from functioning for a while; however, under the direction of the president and prime minister, these regulations were eventually relaxed and factories were able to resume partial activity under the ‘essential services’ tag.
Moreover, export oriented rubber businesses were among the selected services that were permitted to function. This made it easier for life to reach a sense of normalcy and living to be less catastrophic.
In effect, COVID-19 disrupted the global rubber supply chain but despite the initial hiccup, it added a silver lining in our firmament.
Q: How important are innovation and product development in the rubber industry?
A: Market penetration and sustaining markets for products are equally important. We have got accustomed to working on innovative branded products backed by technological advances and corporate existence.
Our product portfolio is aimed at ‘wellness wisdom’ for building body immunity, which is a remedy against the pandemic. We support the adage ‘healthy mind in a healthy body.’
The TEXSTRETCH brand offers progressive resistance bands targeting clients in sports, physiotherapy and beauty culture by supporting the human immunity system to function at its optimum.
Q: And last but not least, are local rubber companies doing enough to foray into new markets?
A: In the context of the US-China cold war, Sri Lanka stands to gain even though this is not our wish.
The markets serviced by China and India are turning to Sri Lanka for their product needs, which has created new markets for local products. Accordingly, the demand for medical and related products has increased.
Furthermore, the government must address its current account issues and reform its international financial architecture as crises are besetting the globe.
Finally, we offer our sincere appreciation to those who stood together in a time of peril including the various chambers of trade and commerce in Sri Lanka.
