The Philippines expects garment exports in 2023 to be higher than 2022 garment exports.

One reason for the optimism is that Vietnam and China no longer take on small orders but are geared for bigger quantities due to their robotics and automation systems. This gives a chance for smaller volume producers like the Philippines to step in.

Another factor driving the country’s garment exports is the ongoing US campaign of anything but China. The campaign is gaining momentum and production is spreading among Asean countries including Philippines. The third factor is the political issues in Myanmar that are causing apparel orders being shifted, some of which are now in the Philippines. Also the Philippines hopes to take advantage of the anticipated flight of foreign orders of garments and other apparel from Vietnam due to counterfeiting issues.

Buyers from the United States have approached garment producers in the Philippines asking them if they can meet the demand that is normally filled by Vietnamese producers. Foreign buyers are turned off by the rampant counterfeiting of apparel and other wearables in Vietnam. In contrast counterfeiting is not a major problem in the Philippines, where piracy and counterfeiting complaints and reports have declined year on year by 40 per cent from January 2022 to November 2022.

Prominent e-commerce platforms in the Philippines have signed a memorandum of understanding with several big brand names to combat the sale of fake products online.