The ready-made clothing industry, which is among Turkey’s strategic sectors with its value-added production, contribution to employment and net foreign exchange income, stepped up to close 2021 with a record $19 billion in exports.
IHKIB, which carries out an aggressive promotional campaign in Europe and the USA with the aim of benefiting from the opportunities that arise with the change in the supply chain from the Istanbul Ready-made Clothing and Apparel Exporters’ Association (IHKIB), continues to bring exporters and foreign buyers together with the trade delegation organizations that it does not take a break even during the epidemic period.
IHKIB President Mustafa Gultepe, whose views are included in the statement, stated that the ready-made clothing industry reached $11.7 billion in exports in seven months and expressed that they are very hopeful for the next 5 months.
Gultepe made the following assessments:
“As the industry, we are very close this year to renew our record of $18.7 billion in 2014. When we look at the seven-month periods, we showed almost the same performance as 2014. It would have been the best seven months of all time had we not been short of four working days during Eid al-Adha. I am very hopeful for the coming months. Three or four months of orders from our exporters are full. Sometimes we can’t even keep up with the demand. As IHKIB, we are conducting an aggressive promotional campaign abroad in order to ensure the continuity of the increasing interest in our country. We take our place in all fairs with international prestige. As we close this year, we will ensure that our exporters take part in 10 leading fashion fairs in countries such as the USA, Russia and France.
In addition, despite the travel bans during the pandemic process, we organize trade delegations and bring foreign buyers together with our companies. In 2020, we organized four trade delegations, all virtual. This year we stepped up. As of the beginning of August, we have organized eight trade delegations, six of which are virtual and two are physical. With these organizations, we brought together hundreds of buyers from countries including Germany, Spain, England and the USA with our exporters.
We hosted the representatives of the latest underwear brands in Istanbul. Buyers from Spain, Italy, Poland, Russia, Ukraine and Lithuania had very productive meetings with the representatives of our companies. We will organize four more trade delegations by the end of the year. Current indicators give hope to reach the all-time export record this year with $19 billion. As IHKIB, we use all our means to reach the target.”
30,000 ADDITIONAL EMPLOYMENT BY THE END OF THE YEAR
Gultepe emphasized that in parallel with the increasing demand, it is essential for the industry to create new capacity and renew the existing capacity.
Noting that they want companies to turn incentives into opportunities, especially in the fifth and sixth regions, Gultepe said that they expect on-site incentives for existing investments in other regions as well.
Gultepe said, “Ready-made clothing, which is one of our traditional sectors, is good for Turkey. In addition to value-added production and exports, we also make a great contribution to our country’s economy in employment. We increased our employment, which was 592 thousand in March 2020, that is at the beginning of the pandemic, to 657 thousand in April 2021. In other words, we contributed 63 thousand people to employment in the most difficult 14-month period. I believe that we will create 25-30 thousand additional jobs by the beginning of the year.”
Source: AA / Translated by Irem Yildiz