Tea exports from Rize in the January-May period of the year reached $3 million 483 thousand 969.
Eastern Black Sea Exporters’ Association (DKIB) Vice Chairman of the Board Ahmet Hamdi Gurdogan said that 35% of Turkey’s 5-month tea exports are made from Rize.
Stating that 1296 tons of tea were exported from the city in the January-May period, Gurdogan stated that $3 million 483 thousand 969 were gained from the said foreign sales.
Noting that tea was exported to 19 countries from Rize, Gurdogan continued:
“Belgium, Ukraine and Germany became the countries with the most foreign sales. From our province, $2 million 139 thousand 843 of tea were sold to Belgium, $317 thousand 23 to Ukraine and $195 thousand 18 to Germany. In this period, exports were made to Senegal, Canada, Uzbekistan, Moldavia and Albania, which were different from the same period of last year.”
Emphasizing that tea is an important export product for the city, region and country, Gurdogan stated that they believe that exports will be completed with very good figures this year.
Gurdogan stated that Turkish tea has gained an important position in foreign markets with the promotional activities of CAYKUR, and said:
“The project was prepared within the scope of the UR-GE – Communiqué on Supporting the Development of International Competitiveness in order to direct our private sector companies to export, to increase the production and export of branded products by developing innovative products other than tea, and to develop clustering cooperation among the companies in the sector and submitted to the approval of the Ministry of Commerce. After the approval of the project, we will focus on increasing tea exports to higher levels by giving importance to opening up to foreign markets with the cluster to be formed with companies operating in the tea sector in the Eastern Black Sea region.”
Source: Sabah / Translated by Irem Yildiz