Region: Sri lankan economy

Lingerie

&

terror

I AM standing amid soft mounds of Victoria's Secret underwear, in a room with 1,000 young women. Engaging, if faintly intimidating, as this may be for me, it is even better for Sri Lanka. The women at this factory are employed by MAS Holdings, the biggest foreign supplier to Victoria's Secret, a label of American-based Limited Brands. MAS also makes lingerie and swimwear for Nike, Adidas and Britain’s biggest rag-trader, Marks & Spencer.
MAS's 45,000 employees turn out 30m bras and 120m pairs of knickers a year. Last year the company had revenues of $700m. It is much the biggest player in an industry that accounts for 40% of Sri Lanka's exports and 10% of GDP.

Its success has also been rapid. Since the firm was founded in 1986—by three Muslim brothers, whose combined initials give MAS its name—it has grown by 20-30% a year by investing in high-value manufacturing. With few natural resources found locally—for example, Sri Lanka has no oil and grows no cotton—its textile companies cannot compete with China’s or Bangladesh’s on price. But Sri Lanka’s workforce is skilled and educated, able to make intricate pants of the highest quality.
Sri Lankan workers have done well abroad, too. Remittances from overseas, mainly from the Gulf, fed $2.5 billion into the economy last year. A colonial inheritance, tea, is another solid earner;