China Zhejiang Guannan Group, based in Shaoxing in China’s eastern Zhejiang province, plans to set up a green textile park at the Cagayan Special Economic Zone and Freeport in Cagayan, Philippines. The park would be developed on 10,000 hectares of land in Sta. Ana and other neighboring towns. It will have its own power plant, water plant, sewage disposal plant, waste processing plants and other facilities and infrastructure.
The Chinese firm will also invest heavily in the development of townships and real estate following its major projects in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Shaoxing. The Philippines was once a major garment and textile exporter, with exports hitting $3bn in the country’s heyday. While these figures have dwindled in recent years, the country could be set to be a beneficiary of the ongoing trade war between China and the US, as the former shifts textile production to other locations to avoid US tariffs.
Lower labor costs and attractive inward investor sweeteners will also likely help attract more Chinese textile mills to the Philippines, especially if, as expected, trade tensions between China and the US do not thaw.
