The country's garments industry is gaining grounds registering P2-billion revenue in 2012 from a slump of less than a billion in 2009, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) announced on Monday.
Chinese garment companies that sourced their production materials locally uplifted the industry which crashed when US removed its quota in 2004. Its revenue increased from P1.7 billion in 2010 to P1.95 billion in 2011.
Outgoing DTI Undersecretary Cristino L. Panlilio said the DTI is working to get more concessions for the garments industry, forging bilateral and multi-lateral agreements.
"Tariff is the biggest barrier to our export, we need to get more concessions," Usec Panlilio said.
He said the DTI is working to forge agreements and consessions on Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Generalized Scheme of Preferences (GSP) to get something for the industry.
The TPP is a proposed free trade agreement under negotiation (as of December 2012) with Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Chile, Canada, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States, and Vietnam.
The GSP, on the other hand, gives vital access to European markets and since 1971, the EU has had rules ensuring that exporters from developing countries pay lower duties.
No comments:
Post a Comment