By Bernie Cahiles-Magkilat
The Philippines garment and textiles industry roadmap sees the Philippines become one of the top ten global players with annual exports growth of 45 percent should it implements some recommendations including elimination of the popular “ukay-ukay” (used imported clothing) that proliferates anywhere in the country and the utilization of natural fibers.
At the industry forum and launch of the Textile-Garments Industry Roadmap, the plan covering 2020-2029 was divided into three milestones: short-term (2020-2022), medium term (2023-2025) and long-term (2026-2029).
Under the short term milestones, the Philippines should already be among the top 20 garment exporters with annual growth of 12.3 percent in garment exports and 3-5 percent increase in textile exports.
This should be made possible with the increase in the utilization of natural and synthetic textile fiber by 5-10 percent.
Under this milestone, the government was urged to address smuggling and proliferation of “ukay-ukay” by strictly implementing RA 4653. The government must also reinstate the SGS pre-shipment inspection and to cancel business permits related to trading of used clothing.
Incentives to the industry was also pushed in the short term for the innovative product processing that promotes sustainability and green environment. Reduction of the 12 percent value added tax was also pushed.
For the short term milestone, the roadmap forecasts the Philippines to improve its world ranking in garment exports into the top 15 largest globally. It is expected to increase its garments by 21.7 percent annually and 10 percent increase in natural and synthetic textile fiber.
This milestone has called for government to address infrastructure gaps and logistical bottlenecks. It also urged for production efficiency, transportation , communication and distribution through high-quality infrastructure and logistical services.
Export market diversification must also be pursued with more bilateral free trade agreements with emerging markets to reduce dependency on the US and EU markets. Improved R & D must be pursued to come up with innovative products.
For the long-term, the roadmap said that an annual 45.8 percent annual increase in the exports of garments is attainable by 2026-2029. This milestone has foreseen the Philippines already at the top ten of the world’s biggest garment exporters.
The Philippines is already a unique, well-known affordable and great for everyday wear global brand as the industry has already upgraded to original brand manufacturer with homegrown Filipino labels.
The industry has already a textile manufacturing that could fully support garment producers offering a more diverse range of products both for the local and export market.