Philippine Department of Trade and Industry: Will focus more on developing the Philippine beauty industry

Acting Trade Secretary Cristine Roque said in late August that her office will focus more on helping the Philippines' multi-billion-peso beauty industry grow, pledging to support the micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in the sector under her charge.

"We have to realize that many MSMEs are also involved in the beauty industry, especially now that the beauty industry is very strong," Roque told reporters at the opening of the five-day Beauty Expo organized by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) at SM Megamall.

Roque said they plan to hold targeted trade fairs in the future to showcase companies engaged in the beauty business. By doing so, we are also creating channels for MSMEs to allow merchants to showcase their products to a large number of mall customers.

As early as 2022, the president of the Chamber of Cosmetics Industry of the Philippines, Inc (CCIPI) estimated that the cosmetics industry alone is worth about $4 billion per year.

At the time, CCIPI President Jocelyn Babaan said the industry was showing signs of recovery from the pandemic after the health crisis caused a loss of about 50% to 80% in total revenue for the industry. She cited 2018 and 2019 as examples, saying that before the pandemic, the $4 billion industry had grown by about 30% to 40%. She noted that consumer behavior had changed significantly during the pandemic, with people spending more time at home, resulting in a significant loss of sales.