The '2023 Silkworm Export Awards' Ceremony, organized jointly by the Uludağ Textile Exporters Association and the Uludağ Ready-made Clothing and Apparel Exporters Association, was held at the Bursa Business School Lifelong Education Center of the Bursa Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BTSO).
Textile and ready-made clothing sectors, which are among the strategic sectors of Turkey and which generate a foreign trade surplus and increase the kilogram value day by day with value-added production, rewarded the most successful export companies. Bursa Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Mustafa Bozbey, BTSO President İbrahim Burkay, UTİB Chairman of the Board of Directors Pınar Taşdelen Engin, UHKİB attended the 2023 Silkworm Export Awards Ceremony, jointly held by Uludağ Textile Exporters Association (UTİB) and Uludağ Ready-made Clothing and Apparel Exporters Association (UHKİB). Chairman of the Board of Directors Nüvit Gündemir, members of the management and audit boards of the unions and company representatives attended.
Yeşim Sales Stores and Textile Factories Inc. in the textile and ready-made clothing sectors. As in recent years, it ranked first by achieving the most exports.
UTİB PRESIDENT ENGİN: “OUR GOAL IS TO BE ONE OF THE TOP THREE EXPORTERS OF THE WORLD IN TEXTILE”
UTİB Chairman of the Board of Directors, Pınar Taşdelen Engin, stated that Turkey is the world's sixth largest textile exporter and the EU's second largest supplier and said, "While Turkey has a 1 percent share of world exports today, the share of our textile industry in world exports is 3,4 percent. Our goal is to be one of the top three exporting countries in the world. For this, we need to increase our exports by making them value added. We have the knowledge, power and capacity to achieve this. We are one of the rare countries that carry out integrated production from yarn to dye, from fabric to the final product. "Our awareness in the sustainability and green transformation journey is much stronger than our competitors," he said.
EXCHANGE PRESSURE PUSHED THE TEXTILER
Emphasizing that China's re-entry into the market as a strong player after the pandemic and the partial recession in the EU and the USA, which are the priority markets, were the main factors in the decline in exports last year, Engin said: "The increase in energy, raw material and labor wages due to high inflation in our country has a negative impact on production costs." There were other important reasons as well. Our producers and exporters had difficulty in establishing prices due to the exchange rate being kept under pressure. "Despite these negativities, our industry has and will continue to work, produce and develop tirelessly," he said.
WE CANNOT WAIT FOR CUSTOMER IMPOSITION FOR THE EU GREEN DEAL
Underlining that they have to act faster on issues such as the EU Green Deal, sustainability and green energy, Taşdelen Engin said: “This should not only be triggered by customer and regulatory impositions, we have to take these steps for our country, our world and our future generations. "As UİB, we will continue our work in 2024 to inform our members and our industry on this issue," he said.
UHKİB PRESIDENT GÜNDEMİR “WE ARE THE LEADER IN FOREIGN TRADE SURPLUS WITH 18 BILLION DOLLARS”
Nüvit Gündemir, Chairman of the Board of Directors of UHKİB, said, "Our textile and ready-made clothing industry is the third largest exporting sector of our country with exports exceeding 30 billion dollars in total and is Turkey's leading sector in this field, creating a foreign trade surplus of approximately 18 billion dollars annually."
Emphasizing that the economy in Europe is now in the process of changing its direction, and that even if orders increase in this process, Turkey will no longer be able to export with its cheap cost power, Gündemir said: "First of all, there must be an improvement in exchange rates and inflation. Then we must strive to maintain the status quo. Our industry must read the changes in the market well in order to continue progressing. The story of none of the other countries we can compare with fits Turkey exactly. Therefore, in order to become one of the three largest exporters in the world, Turkey has to produce different products and production methods,” he said.
WE NEED TO FOLLOW THE CHANGING LIFESTYLE TO COMPETE
Underlining that in order to compete strongly and sustainably with the Far East, it is necessary to focus especially on design + speed + flexibility, Gündemir said, “All brands make commitments with the 2030 zero carbon target. This is a big competitive area for our industry. Companies should create a road map on this issue and the processes should be followed meticulously by their senior management. This will return to us as commercial profit. Sorting and recycling operations are a resource for Türkiye and will increase our competitiveness. By contributing to the reduction of textile waste and a more sustainable fashion industry through resale activities, we can also increase the demand for our brands. "Not only green transformation, but also traceability and transparency, different production methods, and recycling in design will continue to be important issues," he said.
BTSO PRESIDENT BURKAY: “THE BEST WAY TO PREDICT THE FUTURE IS TO BUILD IT”
BTSO President İbrahim Burkay stated that the world is witnessing a great change and transformation focused on technology and said, “Innovations that took years in production and trade in the past are now realized within months or even weeks. Change and transformation occurring at such a rapid pace have perhaps made predictability difficult. But the best way to predict the future is to build it. We are going through a period in which we can say 'I am in' to the extent that we can improve our ability to adapt to the extraordinary change. "At a time when we are going through sharp bends, it is especially critical to protect our production power and ensure the sustainability of our companies," he said.
Stating that the priority expectations of the business world are the preparation of the necessary infrastructure for investments with technology content and high added value and the acceleration of green and digital transformation, Burkay said, “Although we are struggling with difficulties as a country, we are aware that we have a great potential. By mobilizing this strong potential, we managed to rise to the top league in product and market diversity in the first century of our Republic. Now, we have a new century ahead of us with great goals and ideals. "I wholeheartedly believe that if we use our resources with effective, efficient and rational policies, we will achieve our Turkey Century goals together," he said.
TEXTILE IS A STRATEGIC SECTOR FOR BURSA AND Türkiye
Emphasizing that the textile and ready-made clothing sectors are strategic sectors and indispensable values for Bursa and Turkey, Burkay said, “The contribution of our textile and ready-made clothing sectors to employment is over 2 million. Last year, while our country's general export value per kilogram was 1,5 dollars, the textile industry's average export value per kilogram was 4,1 dollars. Bursa's average export value per kilogram in the sector is at the level of 8,7 dollars. Likewise, our ready-made clothing industry in Bursa has an average kilogram value of 2023 dollars by 21,8. On the other hand, our businesses have to adapt to global developments while trying to maintain their competitiveness. For this reason, it has become an obligation rather than a choice for our companies to focus on value-added, innovative and green production compatible with global trends as the main goal of transformation instead of standard products. Bursa, which has a deep-rooted production and export experience in textile, has a strong potential to achieve much more than what it has achieved so far. "As institutions that add value to Bursa's economy, we want R&D, design and innovation-oriented work to be the most important part of our companies' corporate culture," he said.
BURSA DESERVES MORE SUPPORT
Bursa Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Mustafa Bozbey started his speech by congratulating all exporters who create value for our country and Bursa. Emphasizing that it is becoming increasingly difficult to exist in the world market and that it requires an even more difficult process to fight against countries with intense competition, especially China, Bozbey said, “Today, concepts such as climate change and sustainability are gaining more and more importance. As the business world, producers and consumers, we have to show sensitivity to these issues. We aim to brand and stand out in the world market, especially in Bursa, which is considered the center of textile. Bursa is a city that contributes to the country's economy with the importance it attaches to production and exports. People of Bursa produce and contribute to the state, so we think they should receive as much support as they contribute. "Increasing R&D and innovation efforts by focusing on high value-added products will provide significant income to Turkey as well as increasing the export potential of our sectors," he said.
