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Friday, September 22, 2006
Garments sector seeks gov’t support
Garments manufacturers in Cebu are “fractured” and an industry association said the sector needs a government agency “that will put us all together” to improve the industry’s productivity and efficiency.
Cebu Garment Industry Association (CGIA) president Minerva Yuvienco said garment manufacturers in Cebu’s export-processing zone contributed significantly to Central Visayas’ exports.
But small manufacturers outside the zone, Yuvienco said, are fragmented and “fighting to survive.”
While the garments industry is still the country’s second top exports producer after the electronics sector, “the government thrust is now on service-oriented industries like tourism,” Yuvienco said.
Garments and other “wearables” ranked third, accounting for 3.77 percent, in the Central Visayas’ top exports, according to data from the Department of Trade and Industry 7 information network center.
Top market
Japan remains the industry’s top market, followed by Taiwan.
Yuvienco said competition, high costs of manufacturing, increase in the minimum wage, and a decrease in local government’s support hamper the sector’s growth.
“The small manufacturers outside of MEPZ are fighting to survive,” she said.
Yuvienco blamed the decline in the domestic market on the influx of cheap imports and smuggled items from other Asian countries like China.
“People don’t seem to mind wearing cheap items but I don’t blame them,” she said.
She said the sector has been tapping the support of the Canadian Executive Services Organization to conduct trainings and seminars. (MMM)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (September 22, 2006 issue)
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