MAS opens 2nd industrial park, plans to invest USD 28mn in export oriented projects

(PRESS RELEASE) - With the beginning of the New Year, MAS Holdings makes preparations to commence operations at the MAS Fabric Park in Giriulla. This will become the second privately owned industrial park in the country, following the MAS Fabric Park in Thulhiriya.

The former Kabool Lace Giriulla facility, which was shut down for twelve years, was handed over to MAS at a commencement ceremony on 3rd January, graced by the Prime Minister, Hon. Ranil Wickremesinghe. This was facilitated by the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka under the auspices of the Minister of Development Strategies and International Trade, Hon. Malik Samarawickrama. The Government of Sri Lanka, in its continued journey towards economic progress in all parts of the country, has placed high expectations on MAS to commence the new fabric park in Giriulla to create employment opportunities, and livelihood and economic empowerment in the area. The park will be developed to international standards; setting up state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities to support MAS’s technological manufacturing platform to compete in the global apparel and textile trade. The Park will replicate the service offering and environmentally sustainable features of the MAS Fabric Park in Thulhiriya, including uninterrupted power supply, water treatment and supply, an SLAB accredited laboratory for water quality testing, engineering services(electrical, mechanical, civil and other). MAS plans to invest over USD 28 million in export oriented projects in Mattegama–Giriulla, creating approximately 3000 direct employment opportunities in three years of operations. The Fabric Park in Thulhiriya, commenced by MAS in 2006, is now fully utilised and the Giriulla facility is expected to support the requirement for additional land and building space.

Giriulla is a strategic location for expansion given its close proximity to Thulhiriya, and synergies can be leveraged between the two facilities. The Thulhiriya park has seven manufacturing units providing employment to over 8,200 associates. Certified to ISO 140001 EMS and ISO 22000:2005 FSMS standards, the MAS Fabric Park in Thulhiriya is renowned as an environmentally sustainable industrial park. It also houses the largest rooftop solar solution in Sri Lanka, a 1-megawatt installation atop MAS Fabrics Matrix. MAS has implemented resource efficient and environmentally sustainable systems to reduce energy consumption and waste generation towards a long term objective of becoming net positive. These practices will be integrated into the Giriulla park. With the development of the Apparel and Textile Industrial Park in Thulhiriya in 2006, MAS became the first private sector entity to operate a fully-fledged BOI Park in Sri Lanka. During the past decade MAS, with the help of the BOI, developed the Thulhiriya Fabric Park into the state of the art facility it is today. The collaboration between MAS and the BOI, in setting up and progressing the Fabric Park in Thulhiriya and the expansion into Giriulla, exemplifies a successful Private Public Partnership which contributes significantly to the economy of Sri Lanka.