The industries’ immediate concern is the “special safeguard” and quota constraints by the US, EU and Canada, which will significantly hamper growth. Also the appreciation of the RMB, the continuous increase in production costs, and the shortage of skilled labour will exert pressure on operations. 

Nonetheless, even with these challenges, the future of the garment industries is still bright owing to the fact that most of the manufacturers in Hong Kong are very well experienced, flexible and adaptable to changes in the business environment. In the face of fierce competition in the global markets, the industry is moving up the value chain to supply sophisticated textile products with original designs to clients worldwide. Hong Kong enterprises are now focusing on higher value-added activities, such as sales and marketing, quality control, designs and development, while off-shore productions are specialised in lower-range operations.

The industry is capital-intensive, with much investment made to reengineer the industry into a world-class competitor. Modern tools such as open-ended spinning machine, shuttleless looms as well as computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) are now commonly employed to handle the increasingly sophisticated production processes and products. Furthermore, Hong Kong enterprises have been quick to adopt e-commerce, which offers a cost-effective solution to enhance logistics and supply management, bringing suppliers and buyers closer.