ROSARIO, CAVITE—CS Garments Inc. of Germany is expanding operations and hiring more workers in this town after the Philippines won trade concessions from the European Union, with its inclusion in the EU Generalized System of Preferences Plus or GSP+ scheme.
The GSP+ scheme reduces tariff to 0 percent for two-thirds of more than 6,000 tariff lines, including products that the Philippines is exporting to the EU such as processed food, fruits, footwear and garments.
CS Garments president and chief executive Claus Sudhoff said the company was prepared to increase investments in plant, infrastructure and machineries, as the trade preferential scheme was expected to increase European demand for Philippine exports.
Sudhoff and his Filipina wife Connie led a plant tour at the Cavite Export Zone attended by European ambassadors, European Commission diplomats and officials of the Trade Department.
“I’ll be heading to Europe by the end of the month to speak with several potential clients and buyers. We have confidence that the scheme will usher in a new growth period for the garments sector in the Philippines,” Sudhoff said in a news briefing at the company’s manufacturing site.
CS Garments exports most of its products to Europe, especially Germany. It manufactures shirts, smart casual tops for men and blouses for women and caters to different brands and apparel companies in Germany.
Sudhoff said more garments investors were expected to set up operations in the Philippines under the GSP+ scheme. He said the company was in fact hiring 100 more workers to expand its workforce.