Minister of Commerce Omer Bolat said that there was a 6% increase in textile and raw materials exports in January and February.
Minister Bolat stated at the opening of the Texhibition Fair organized by the Istanbul Textile and Raw Materials Exporters Association (ITHIB) at the Istanbul Expo Center that textile and ready-made clothing is the first industrial sector in these lands.
Stating that signals of a serious improvement were received in the textile and apparel industry in the first 2 months of the year, Bolat continued his words as follows:
“There is a 6% increase in textile and raw material exports in January and February. Our exports reached $1 billion 587 million and hopefully we will exceed the level of $9 billion 456 million in 2023. The decrease trend in the garment industry has also approached the minimum. It was 4.5%. Hopefully, they will start to see spring as of spring, and with the increase in demand in Europe and America, we will improve the figures in apparel. In 2023, textiles and apparel exported approximately $33 billion. May God bless you. We congratulate you on behalf of our government for this success. Dear friends, as the Ministry of Commerce, we stand by exporters. We allocate 60% of our budget to you.”
Support provided to textile and apparel exporters
Bolat talked about the importance of the textile and apparel industry’s compliance with the “Green Deal” and emphasized that compliance with the green transformation is very important in order not to be at a disadvantage when exporting to the European Union.
Explaining the support they provide in this regard, Bolat said that the consultancy service expenses received by companies within the scope of the Green Deal Compliance Project Support, which was recently implemented, will be supported by the Ministry of Commerce up to ₺10 million.
Bolat talked about the advantages provided in corporate tax for exporters and the financing provided by Turk Eximbank and said, “Eximbank’s capital was increased for the third time in 9 months. With the changes we made in the Turquality promotion project support, we will provide promotion and brand support to textile and ready-made clothing exporters. We have extended the Turquality support programs for one more year for our provinces in the earthquake zone, which is the center of textile.”
“Turkiye reached a national income of $1 trillion 119 billion in 2023”
Minister of Commerce Bolat said that Turkiye continues to be a production and supply base in textile, ready-made clothing and other related sectors.
Stating that Covid-19 revealed the importance of the supply chain, Bolat said, “(The epidemic) showed that Turkiye is a country that provides supply, logistics and can sell very high quality products in 2-3 days, and it provided great support and motivation to our exports.”
Bolat noted that Turkiye closed 2023 with 4.5% growth, ranking first among European Union countries, second among Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, and fourth among G20 countries. He explained that the $1 trillion threshold was exceeded for the first time in the history of the Republic and the national income of $1 trillion 119 billion was reached.
He explained that the $1 trillion threshold was exceeded for the first time in the history of the Republic and the national income of $1 trillion 119 billion was reached. Noting that Turkiye’s per capita national income increased to $13 thousand 110, Bolat said, “Of course, some, including elections, are constantly trying to engage in crisis literature and doomsaying.
Noting that Turkiye’s per capita national income increased to $13 thousand 110, Bolat said, “Of course, some, including elections, are constantly trying to engage in crisis literature and doomsaying.
According to the Manufacturing Purchasing Managers indicator, PMI increased to 50.2 in February. You know, 50 is balance. “When it exceeds 50, it means that the manufacturing industry has started to step on the gas.”
Pointing out that this indicator exceeded 50 for the first time in 8 months, Bolat announced that the capacity utilization rate of the manufacturing industry was 77% in February.
Bolat said, “It is almost very difficult to see 78%, 79%anyway. It requires new investments. In other words, the manufacturing industry is working. Industrial production increased significantly in December compared to the previous month for the first time in 5 months. It increased by 2.4%. It increased by 1.6% on an annual basis.”
Bolat stated that employment increased by 913 thousand people in 2023 and reached 32 million 100 thousand people, and that the unemployment rate decreased to 8.8% in December.
Stating that the unemployment rate in the young population decreased to 15.5% and the employment rate increased to 53.1%, which is also a record rate, Bolat said, “We closed the year with $255.8 billion of goods exports.”
Bolat said that they managed to achieve a decline in imports and the ratio of exports to imports increased to 75%, and they saved $13.5 billion in the foreign trade deficit in two months, Noting that the foreign trade deficit, which was $122.5 billion in May, decreased to $93 billion in February, he said that they achieved a decrease of $29 billion in 9 months.
Minister Bolat added that Turkiye’s need for foreign currency has decreased and they have achieved this by closing the foreign trade deficit and current account deficit.
Following their speeches, the ceremony where the opening ribbon was cut was attended by Istanbul Governor Davut Gul, Turkish Exporters Assembly (TIM) President Mustafa Gultepe, ITHIB President Ahmet Oksuz and many guests.
TIM President Gultepe: “We have an export target of $40 billion in ready-made clothing and $20 billion in textiles”
Turkish Exporters Assembly (TIM) President Mustafa Gultepe said, “We have an export target of $40 billion in ready-made clothing and $20 billion in textiles.”
Texhibition Fair, organized by the Istanbul Textile and Raw Materials Exporters Association (ITHIB) at the Istanbul Expo Center, was opened with the participation of Minister of Commerce Omer Bolat, Istanbul Governor Davut Gul, TIM President Mustafa Gultepe, ITHIB President Ahmet Oksuz and many guests.
Speaking here, TIM President Gultepe said that the textile and ready-made clothing sectors have a special place in Turkiye’s industrialization, development, employment and internationalization.
Stating that industrialization in Turkiye started with these two sectors, Gultepe underlined that these two sectors pioneered the opening up to the outside world in the 1980s.
Gultepe stated that these two sectors have been at the top of exports for years and emphasized that Turkiye is a global player in both sectors.
Reminding that 2022 will be closed with nearly $32 billion of exports in the textile and ready-made clothing sectors, which cannot be considered separately from each other, Gultepe said that the targets fell behind with approximately $29 billion and $4.8 billion in the first two months of 2023 and 2024, respectively, due to both the contraction in global markets and the loss of competitiveness due to high cost increases.
Gultepe explained that they organized the 5th Istanbul Ready-made Clothing and Fashion Fair (IFCO) a month ago and broke the visitor record at this fair, where nearly 600 companies participated, and said:
“Easy to say, we hosted 38,500 visitors, 15 thousand of whom were foreigners, from 159 countries. While our companies deepened their existing relationships with their customers, they also laid the foundations of new collaborations. I know that there is a great interest in the 5th Texhibition Fair. 30 thousand visitors are expected to our fair, which has more than 550 participants. Of course, this great interest will have positive reflections on our exports.
With the revival of global markets in the second half of the year, the needle will turn upward again in both our ready-made clothing and textile exports. Turkiye is a brand country in textile and ready-made clothing production. We differentiate ourselves from our competitors with our quality production, speed, social responsibility criteria and proximity to a large market like Europe. In addition to all these advantages, we are also working to turn sustainable production and green transformation into opportunities.”
Gultepe also said that he has prepared the road map for compliance with the Green Deal for both textile and ready-made clothing and that the implementation process has been started.
Noting that they have export targets of $40 billion in ready-made clothing and $20 billion in textiles, Gultepe said, “There may be delays due to cyclical reasons, but we know that these targets are not far away with our current potential. Yes, the global conjuncture is important in exports. It is necessary to read the demand and risks correctly in advance.”
“The fair is of great importance in making the flow of the global supply chain to Turkiye permanent.”
Ahmet Oksuz, President of Istanbul Textile and Raw Materials Exporters Association (ITHIB), said that the fair is of great importance to make the flow of the global supply chain to Turkiye permanent.
Oksuz underlined that as a textile industry, they increased the share of the Turkish textile industry in global exports from 2% to 3.5% in the last 4 years.
Underlining that the year 2023 was not as desired due to the impact of the earthquake disaster and the contraction in global demand, Oksuz said:
“The most important development that makes us relatively happy is that while the exports of the Turkish textile industry decreased by 10%, the imports of our biggest export markets such as the European Union and the USA from the world decreased by 20%. Therefore, we managed to maintain our market share in our largest markets. We owe this to our fair, which we organized with the cooperation of the industry. That’s why our Texhibiton Istanbul fair is important. Maintaining the quality of our fair and growing in a controlled manner is our most important priority. Because we aim to make our fair one of the most prestigious textile fairs in the world by including it in the calendar of international textile fairs.”
Source: AA / Prepared by Irem Yildiz