|
By Katrina Mennen A. Valdez, Reporter
The Philippine garments industry stands to
benefit from the US economic crisis, the Confederation of Garment
Exporters of the Philippines said Friday.
Laurence de los Santos, CONGEP president, said
the country’s garment exporters have an edge over other Asian
competitors because of the “chase orders” they could provide
amid the economic slowdown in the United States.
“US would still have to import the same
quantity of garments from [us] and other Asian countries. However,
they [US] retailers do not want to have a big pile of inventory;
this is where the Philippines is for,” delos Santos said.
He said US retailers, fearing recession, are apt
to place their orders more often to prevent big inventories. They
will resort to chase orders instead of placing orders in one big
swoop, he added.
“Though Vietnam, India, and Bangladesh are the
closest competitors of the Philippines, chase orders will be made to
the Philippines to address the ‘speed market,’ de los Santos
said.
The country ships about 75 percent of its
garments exports to US. Last year, of the country’s P2.02-billion
export sales, $1.7 billion was generated by garment exports to US.
The garment industry employs about 200, 000
workforce, down from a million in the 1990s.
Ma. Teresita Jocson-Agoncillo, the group’s
executive director, said the Philippines was among the top 10
garment exporters in the US in the 1990s. The country has fallen way
behind since.
In a related matter, the group has also appealed
before the Philippine government to help resolve the “rules of
origin” issue on the granting of zero tariff once the Japan
Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement is enforced.
“The Philippines buy yarn and textiles from
Japan and Asean countries under the Japan-Asean Free-Trade Agreement
in order to enjoy a zero tariff,” Jocson-Agoncillo said.
She said that that once the garment exporters
are allowed to purchase yarn and textiles outside Japan and Asean
members, say, in China or India, they could price their output more
competitively.
Some of the brands that Congep members
manufacture are Anne Taylor, Polo by Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein,
Victoria's Secret and Adidas.
|
