Hela Group wins two major accolades at Presidential Export Awards 2023

Hela Apparel Holdings Chairman A.R. Rasiah receiving the Overall Award for Best Exporter in Product Diversification from President Ranil Wickremesinghe 

Hela Apparel Holdings PLC walked away with the prestigious Overall Award for Best Exporter in Product Diversification and Sectoral Award for Best Exporter – Medium Category, at the 25th Presidential Export Awards Ceremony, held recently with the patronage of President Ranil Wickremesinghe.

“It gives me immense pleasure to have received these awards on behalf of Hela,” said Hela Apparel Holdings PLC Chairman A.R. Rasiah. “It’s been a challenging couple of years for the apparel manufacturing sector in Sri Lanka and it has been no different for Hela. Despite the challenging global operating environment, we have been steadfast in our commitment to growth across our global footprint, expanding our offerings and creating global partnerships that share our vision. This recognition further cements our journey within the sector and is a true testament to all the hard work, commitment, and dedication of the Hela Group across the globe,” he concluded. 

This year’s ceremony recognised the country’s top exporters in multiple categories for the two years, 2021/22 and 2022/23 under two main categories, awarding 13 Overall Awards and 51 Products and Services Sector Awards. According to the current Government Policy Framework and newly formed strategies to promote exports, the esteemed judge board headed by a retired judge of the supreme court took measures to identify organisations for efforts taken in Market diversification, Product diversification, Innovation, Value addition, Introduction of indigenous brands to the world, Sustainable Initiatives in exports, Development in regional value chains and more.

Hela Apparel Holdings PLC Private Label Division CEO Viraj Fernando said: “In today’s industry context, we must look beyond the traditional norms of apparel manufacturing and be willing to offer customers an unparalleled service and end-to-end solutions. The market is increasingly competitive, understanding this we at Hela have been working to expand our global partnerships with innovative ideas and unique product and design offerings of the highest quality, prioritising speed solutions, which has helped us continue our operations and achieve milestones such as this despite a challenging global operating environment.”

Hela Apparel Holdings PLC has a global presence with 10 manufacturing facilities across Sri Lanka, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Egypt, as well as design centres in Sri Lanka, the US, the UK, and France, providing direct employment to over 20,000 people.