PHILIPPINES: Apparel Exports To Soar If EU Quotas Lifted
Apparel exports to Europe could soar 50 per cent by 2004 if the Philippine government succeeds in getting European Union garment and textile quota restrictions lifted, a senior official said on Monday. Trade Secretary Manuel Roxas II said such a move would create 23,000 new jobs and generate an extra $158 million a year for his country's clothing and textile exporters which would help them survive the global economic slowdown.