The apparel industry, which has contracted with the effect of the pandemic, is going through difficult times due to the increase in raw material prices on the one hand and the remaining samples at the customs. Problems threaten production and exports.

Expressing that automation has an important importance in the apparel sector as well as in all sectors, Chairman Tuncay KORU; “We gain speed thanks to automation. We reduce the error and perform mass production. Apparel is a worker-oriented industry that depends on the workforce,” he said. Koru said that they want to make all manufacturers who make production members of the association in order to transfer all kinds of events such as sewing, laying, transport, ironing and washing, which are used only in garment factories that produce garments, from the manual system to the automatic system during the production phase; “We have some conditions; It has to operate in the apparel industry, be local and be a manufacturer. We do not work with importers because our mission and goal is to help Turkish manufacturers grow in market share in Turkey as well as strengthen Turkish machinery in the world market and support our export figures. We currently have 50-55 members. We want to make 100-150 more members from the Turkish manufacturer.”

“We are exporting today to the places we imported 10 years ago”

Saying that the sector showed a rapid reaction in Turkey, Koru said; “Currently, most of our factories are at the level of automatic machines and many of them at the level of semi-automatic machines. As an association, we turn semi-automatic machines into full-automatic with a few touches. There is serious progress in the sector. Sector There is a direction from Marmara to Southeast Anatolia. Thanks to the incentives, companies renew their equipment. We have the capacity to receive this flag from Italy and Japan. We are now able to sell machines to countries where we bought machines 10 years ago”

Saying that all our machine manufacturers have the same problems in Turkey, Koru said; “We have been experiencing serious problems in raw material prices and supplies in the last 6 months. There are serious price increases in international shipping. There are increases in electricity, natural gas and labor costs. During the pandemic period, there was a contraction in the apparel industry, and accordingly, there were increases. The scissors narrowed in two places and we had problems. We have serious problems with the import regime. Sample materials coming from abroad are stuck at customs. However, it has no commercial function. 8-10 pieces are subject to customs cost. We are wasting time. It needs to be regulated. Here we need to fix the easy imports. We can't clear the imported part from customs. Our customers are dissatisfied. We must overcome this obstacle in front of the sector by taking accelerating measures. "We need to get out of these kinds of challenges in order to compete with China," he said.

“We must train qualified personnel”

Expressing that there are shortages of trained personnel, President Koru; “There is a problem of employing immigrants instead of Turkish personnel in factories. This is a danger for Turkish employment. It is necessary to solve it by increasing the competition and productivity of Turkish workers. We can solve this with technical high school education. We need trained personnel who have kept up with digitalization. The process needs to progress together with the OIZ, municipality and NGOs. More high schools should be established in OIZs. First of all, the Turkish bureaucracy, unions and associations should increase the coordination and increase efficiency and sustainability with quick solutions.

More incentives should be given to fairs

Koru stated that China, Japan, Bangladesh and India hold the sector with serious incentives in the Asian Continent; “If our problems continue, it is impossible for us to compete with China for a long time. The industry can be monopolized. It is necessary to overcome these problems by accelerating the system operation of trade and exports, not with cash incentives. There are 3 big global fairs in the sector. Germany, China and Türkiye. The German fair will take place in Frankfurt on 21-24 June. As of next week, all our members have a discount due to early participation in the fair. We encouraged all our members to participate in this fair. Even if there is 40-50 square meters of space, we need to be here. There is a fair to be held in TÜYAP Istanbul in 2022. We will be here too. Istanbul fair is one of these 3 big fairs. Türkiye is a fair and tourism country. More incentives should be given to these fairs. It is necessary to give operational incentives. We are open to any kind of cooperation and exchange of ideas. We need to work in cooperation with NGOs and Ministries. Bangladesh Fair held in Dhaka is the 4th largest fair in the world. But the incentive given here two years ago has been removed. There is no explanation as to why or why it was removed. Although no idea was received from the industry, this fair was automatically abolished. We want to put this fair on the incentive list again.”

(BLACK SEA ECONOMY- HALIL YILMAZER)