Philippine Garment and Textile Industry Urgently Needs Recovery, Calls on Chinese Enterprises to Invest and Cooperate

Release time:

2019-03-01

Local garment manufacturers in the Philippines hope that the government can stimulate the local garment and textile industry through taxation, and also call on the government to attract Chinese companies interested in investment to invest and cooperate.

Robert, president of the Philippine Foreign Buyers Association, said the industry needs government subsidies, especially labor and electricity expenditures, to reduce the cost of doing business in the country. "Some Chinese companies are already consulting on cooperation in setting up factories in the Philippines. Robert stressed that the Philippines should make good use of this to attract Chinese enterprises.

The Federation of Philippine Exporters has also raised the need for more tax allowances, which are now moving towards legalization.

The Duterte administration is pushing for tax reforms to attract higher-quality investment opportunities. While reforming tax incentives, the enterprise income tax standard is gradually lowered.

Robert said the benefits of tax incentives in Philippine labor laws should not be removed. Instead, more should be given, like allowance rights, workforce enhancement, skills training, and so on. "You know, garment manufacturing is a very labor-intensive industry. "said Robert.

The garment and textile industry used to be competitive in the export market and was even considered a sunrise industry in the 1990 s. The Philippines' export performance in this industry has declined since the WTO lifted textile quotas in 2005. The country's garment and textile enterprises have also experienced many difficulties, such as factory closures, downsizing, and substantial layoffs.

At a press conference in August 2018, William Ang, manager of Globe Textile Industries Corp, complained that the clothing industry received little support from the Philippine government. Its representative, the Philippine Garment Manufacturers Association, said that the Philippines has many talented designers, but it is easy to be ignored and less valued.

Similarly, Robert also stressed that once the Philippine garment industry recovers, the country can enter more markets, especially the ASEAN market. Neighbouring countries such as Bangladesh, Vietnam, Sri Lanka and even Myanmar are now trying to fill the gap, but lack more space to create new products, which is when the Philippines revives the industry. "Robert said

On March 1, China's tariff increase plan for goods exported to the United States was postponed, and substantial progress was made in Sino-US economic and trade consultations.

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