Apparel Online Bangladesh Magazine April Issue 2019 | Page 50

BEYOND BD APPAREL RESOURCES NEWSLETTERS FACEBOOK FRIENDS To subscribe, send us an email at [email protected] Join more than 10,000 people who are already fans of Apparel Resources on facebook. Search for Apparel Resources at https://www.facebook.com/apparelresources/ Garment manufacturers of Philippines urge to revive the struggling textile industry Apparel manufacturers of Philippines have called for more tax benefits in order to revive the country’s struggling apparel and textile industry. Ding Buendia, Director, Foreign Buyers’ Association of the Philippines (FOBAP), said that the Government should take advantage of Chinese firms interested in setting up units or partnering with local factories in Philippines. He also added that Government subsidies were essential to minimise the cost of doing business in the country especially with regard to labour and power expenses. Meanwhile, the Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. spoke about FOBAP’s need for more tax perks at a time when such perks are being rationalised. It is important to note here that the Government of Philippines is presently pushing for Trabaho Bill. The bill aims at slowly lowering the corporate income tax while revamping the tax incentive system. Further on the same, Ding Buendia said, “Benefits of tax incentives in the Trabaho Bill should not be removed; in fact more should be added.” After showing so much promise in 1990s, the export performance of Philippines garment industry slumped with the abolition of textile quotas by WTO in 2005 leading to shutting down of many apparel factories in the country. Robert Young, President, FOBAP, said that if the garment industry gets revived, then the country could gain access to the US as well as South-east Asian markets. Ghana President announces package to revamp textile sector Ghana President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has announced a stimulus package for the development of its struggling textile sector. He said this during his 2019 State of the Nation Address (SONA) to Parliament. Substantiating on the same, the President said that Ghana’s local textile sector has been grappling for its existence and many textile companies have even closed down. The stimulus package will enable the industry to revive. He further added that in an endeavour to reform the industry, a zero-rated value added tax has been granted to the country’s textile sector on the supply of locally made textiles for a period of three years. “In order to address the problem of pirated designs and logos in the textile trade, we have implemented a tax stamp regime for both local and imported textiles,” said Nana Addo Dankwa. In addition to designating the Tema Port as a single-entry corridor for importing textile prints, a textile task force has also been set up to ensure effective compliance and control smuggling of imported textiles. Besides, 79 garment factories under the ‘One- District-One-Factory’ scheme are at different production stages of 50 Apparel Online Bangladesh | APRIL 2019 | www.apparelresources.com operation or construction. This apart, another 35 factories are going through credit appraisal. The President said that under the Rural Enterprises Programme, 50 small-scale factories will come up by the end of 2019 in 50 districts of the country. This programme is funded by the African Development Bank and the International Fund for Agricultural Development.