Potential investors will conduct an ocular trip for assessment—probably before the year ends—which will be followed by a project study, Young, who is also president of the Foreign Buyers Association of the Philippines (FOBAP), said.

The Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. (PHILEXPORT) recently said at least nine multinational corporations have expressed keen interest to set up textile or garment units in the country as part of their expansion plans. Four are from Cambodia, three from India and two from Vietnam, Robert Young, PHILEXPORT trustee for textile, yarn and fabric, said.

These companies indicated their intentions to invest in the Philippine garments and textile industry during their one-on-one business-to-business (B2B) meeting as part of the 54th ASEAN Economic Ministers Meeting and related meetings held in Cambodia this month.

He said these planned investments are expected to generate about 9,000 jobs initially, and raise annual garments and textile exports by $500 million.

An ideal textile fabric mill would have an investment of minimum $1 million, while a garment apparel factory would be from $300,000 to $500,000, Young was quoted as saying by a Philippine media report.

The country’s garments and textile industry exports are estimated at $1.5 billion, with an annual growth rate of 10 per cent.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)