The packaging industry, which had a foreign trade surplus of more than $2 billion with an export of more than $5 billion last year, targets a turnover of $28 billion in 2021.
In the statement made by the Packaging Manufacturers Association (ASD), ASD President Zeki Saribekir stated that the turnover, which was $23 billion in 2019, reached $25 billion in 2020, and said:
“Our target for 2021 is $28 billion. We think that we will reach a size of $30 billion in 2023. We make an economic movement of approximately $400 billion in Turkey possible with our packaging. Our products are exported directly to 180 countries in the world. Last year, we had a foreign trade surplus of $2 billion 28 million. Our 2020 exports were $5 billion 147 million.”
Explaining that they had a foreign trade surplus of $1 billion 222 million by making an export of $3 billion in the first six months of 2021, Saribekir noted that the share of the packaging industry in the second quarter growth figure of 21.7% in the economy.
Saribekir said, “Our target for exports this year is $6 billion. Per capita packaging consumption in Turkey has doubled in the last 15 years. The world average is $120, but we have reached $272. This figure is over $400 in Europe, around $500 in the United States, and over $550 in Japan. We also see packaging consumption as a symbol of development.”
THE MOST IMPORTANT TOPIC SUSTAINABILITY
Stating that sustainability is the most important issue of the upcoming period, Zeki Saribekir stated that the Turkish packaging industry has a strong infrastructure and a competency to compete with its competitors in the world.
Saribekir said, “But there is great competition in global markets. We insist that the most important issue of the upcoming period will be sustainability in order to keep up with this competition. We need to work for a sustainable world and we need to make sustainable packaging. Sustainable development goals, circular economy and green reconciliation have become very important issues.”
Source: NTV / Translated by Irem Yildiz