The Philippines garment and textiles industry roadmap, launched recently at an industry forum, foresees the country becoming one of the top ten global players with annual exports growth of 45 per cent if it implements some recommendations, including elimination of the popular ‘ukay-ukay’ (used imported clothing) and the utilisation of natural fibres. 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 per cent in garment exports and 3-5 per cent increase in textile exports. This should be made possible with the increase in the utilisation of natural and synthetic textile fibre by 5-10 per cent, according to media reports in the Philippines. Under this milestone, the government was urged to address smuggling and proliferation of ukay-ukay. 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 per cent 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 per cent annually and 10 per cent increase in natural and synthetic textile fibre. This milestone has called for the 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 European Union markets. Improved research and development must be pursued to come up with innovative products. For the long-term, the roadmap said that an annual 45.8 per cent 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.
