Meditextile wins NBE Award

Meditextile Ltd. proprietor Vijesena Pelpola receiving the award

Meditextile Ltd. made history by receiving a coveted Business Excellence Award at the National Business Excellence Awards 2018 ceremony organised by the National Chamber of Commerce Sri Lanka. 

Meditextile Ltd. is an ISO 9001-2008 certified healthcare manufacturing company whose manufacturing plant is located on two acres of green land in the Kalutara District. It operates in line with its vision to “supply good quality medical products to the nation.”

Meditextile manufactures surgical dressings such as cotton bandages, absorbent cotton gauze, absorbent cotton wool, crape bandage, emergency bandages and X- ray detectable gauze swabs, etc. Furthermore, the company has entered into the pharmaceutical industry to manufacture Povidone Iodine and other external use items. 

Meditextile supplies 65% of the total demand in both the public and private sectors. Their products are distributed island-wide through a network comprising more than 120 dealers. Some items are also exported to Japan and the Maldives. The total investment of the company is about Rs. 300 million including lands and buildings. The workforce numbers about 75 and all of them are well-trained, skilled and capable. The company is operating under the guidance of an experienced and qualified management team. 

Meditextile started in 1984 in a very small scale under the sole proprietorship by Vijesena Pelpola, who hails from a family with deep roots in the textile industry. Today the company has a fully-equipped manufacturing plant. Modern technology and a quality production process have been introduced in order to improve the quality of products. 

Surgical dressings are essential in the healthcare sector. Sri Lanka can save vast amounts of foreign exchange yearly by developing this industry. The heavy import duties on these products are protection given by the Government for this industry. On the other hand, there are many existing regulations to control the importation of low-quality products but unfortunately, low-quality products enter the market at cheap prices, imposing a threat on the local industry.  

“As a local manufacturer, I am satisfied with the existing rules and regulations to control illegal (low-quality) imports.  But unfortunately low-quality products are coming into the market. We believe that it is the duty of the implementing authorities to be responsible for the same,” stated Pelpola.