Foreign garments buyers are hoping to book $1 billion in sales this year amid soft demand in the global market.
Robert Young, president of the Foreign Buyers Association of the Philippines (FOBAP) said the group is experiencing a 15-percent decline in sales but hopes orders will pick up in the coming months as Christmas shopping season nears.
In an interview, Young said FOBAP focuses on mid- to high priced products that include shirts and bags to capture higher-value market, a niche the Philippines has enjoyed over the years.
But he said higher inflation rate has led consumers to stick to essentials.
FOBAP acts a liaison between factories in the Philippines and the biggest brands and retailers all over the world.
Young said the United States takes up bulk of the sales of FOBAP members and despite the implementation of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) three years ago, the group has not experienced any detention of shipments bound to the US.
“We are smooth-sailing. We have not been affected,” said Young.
He said FOBAP has made sure to stipulate in their purchase contracts on the compliance to the UFLPA.
UFPLA is a regulation that ensures goods made with forced labor in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China do not enter the US market.
“Since the start, we made sure suppliers adhere to the regulation because we can be liable to huge fines and rejection of shipments at the borders,” Young said.
Xinjiang is known to have the most ideal climate to grow cotton, a key raw material in garments manufacturing. Xinjiang’s cotton is priced more affordably than other cotton-producing countries like India, Bangladesh, Egypt and the US itself.
