China Apparel Firm Sets Up Facility
in Cebu Philippines

CEBU PHILIPPINES - Yuen Thai Industrial Co, Ltd. (YTIC) a China-based apparel manufacturer and exporter, started the operation of Yuen Thai Philippines Inc. (YTPI) last week.

Yuen Thai (YTIC) set up one of the first few facilities in Central Luzon Philippines in the early 1980s and still has the biggest export operation in Pampanga and Tarlac.

Yuen Thai manufactures for Polo Ralph Lauren, Liz Clairborne, Ann Taylor and Calvin Klein. It has manufacturing facilities in Mexico, Saipan and Cambodia.

Yuen Thai Philippines (YTPI) is engaged in the manufacturing and supply chain services of branded sports and active wear products.

It will supply Adidas's requirements for the US, Europe, and Japan. The company aims to be the largest apparel supplier for Addidas within the next few years.

The company selected Cebu Philippines as the site of its offshore facility due to its quality and efficient workforce, according to Raymond Tan Chairman of Yuen Thai Philippines Inc.

"What attracted to this country are the Filipino people. Although a lot of people say wage here in the Philippines is high and the wages in other countries are lower. But it's not about the wage," Tan said.

"It is about how well you can manage the people and how efficient you can make the factory. We can be 50 percent expensive than Vietnam, but if we are 50 percent as efficient as Vietnam, then we're the same," Tan pointed out.

"When we say Filipinos can be more efficient than Chinese they call us nuts. But the reality is we can make this factory more efficient than the Chinese factories," Tan added.

Yuen Thai Philippines Inc. put up its apparel manufacturing facility in the Mactan Economic Zone l in Lapu-Lapu City in Cebu. It started with 800 employees, which it expects to increase to 2000 by July. It plans to add another 2,000 within two to three years.

"The Yuen Thai group of companies in Central Luzon provides direct job opportunities to over 6,000 people. And if we add Cebu, we will have over 10,000 employees in the country. We're the biggest apparel exporter in the Philippines," Tan said.

Due to its good relationship with its workers and the Philippine government, he said Yuen Thai achieved a "10-fold" growth in less than five years.

4/04/05

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