PH woos US garment firms to expand here

The Philippines has urged American and footwear companies to expand and bring more of their production capacities in the country to benefit from the recent inclusion of travel goods sector in the US Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program.

Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Ramon Lopez said this in a recent regional gathering of key members of the American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA) and the Confederation of Wearables Exporters of the Philippines (CONWEP), the DTI chief discussed the expansion of GSP.

GSP is a trade arrangement that allows duty-free entry of specific Philippine products to the US, as well as the plan to explore further the possibility of having a more permanent FTA with US.

Easier market access to another country encourages producers and exporters to locate in the source-country, stressed Lopez.

“This is considered very important in our economic program under President Duterte’s administration which aims to accelerate job and income generation activities especially in the countryside and help reduce inequality,” Lopez said.

These sectors are labor intensive and can generate more stable and decent jobs. It also creates business opportunities for SME’s servicing the sectors, such as producers of key raw materials, indigenous woven products, accessories, service and logistics providers.

The industry currently employs around 300,000 and has the potential of bringing it up to over 4 million like in other ASEAN countries, if we are able to attract more locators to produce in the country.

This is essential as the Philippine government pursues programs to help those at the bottom of the pyramid, highlighting that improvement in the manufacturing industry such as through garments and travel goods.

Having the trade concessions will encourage more investors to put their production facilities in the country.

More investment interests were generated as Lopez met with AAFA officials, led by President and CEO Rick Helfenbein and ChairPublicly man Paula Zusi, to explore ways of enhancing trade between the US and the Philippines through commitments made through US GSP and the possible establishment of a bilateral free trade agreement.

The group believes that, as US conducts FTA discussions with other countries, there is no reason why US will not do an FTA with the Philippines, which has been a strong partner and ally since the World War II.