The Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc (Philexport) recently urged the government and private sector to work together to immediately implement the strategies outlined in the Philippine Export Development Plan (PEDP) 2023-2028 to save the domestic apparel industry in the face of global reshoring or onshoring.
In a statement, Philexport trustee for the textile, yarn, and fabric industry Robert Young called for lower business costs and more competitiveness in the nation.
Under the PEDP, exporters can obtain assistance with infrastructural needs such as electricity, transportation, logistics, and telecommunications access.
“The new digital and robotics manufacturing will play a significant role in the reduction of labor costs,” Young was cited as saying by a domestic news site.
Global events like the pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war, as well as Asia’s reliance on imports and garment production, are currently reshaping the industry, according to Young, who is also president of the Foreign Buyers Association of the Philippines (FOBAP).
Plans to restore or onshore production might result in the immediate closure of the garment manufacturing for the export market and its linked sectors in the nation, as well as large-scale displacement of apparel employees, he warned.
“Philippine market share for the sector is one-tenth of one percent of an annual global market size of $995 billion in trade value,” according to the PEDP.
