Mustafa Paşahan: Our Goal is a Türkiye That is a Country of Brands
Mustafa Paşahan, who announced his candidacy for the Presidency of IHKIB, emphasized that while producing solutions to the current problems of the sector, they are also shaping the future of the ready-to-wear industry through projects focused on branding, design, twin transformation, and exports.
Emphasizing that while trying to produce solutions to the current problems of the sector, they are also shaping the future of the fashion industry, Istanbul Apparel and Garment Exporters’ Association (IHKIB) Presidential Candidate Mustafa Paşahan, reminding that he announced his candidacy with the slogan “unity, solidarity, experience, continuity,” said: “We are developing and implementing projects to improve qualified human resources in the sector, strengthen design capacity, benefit from the multiplier effect of branding, make Istanbul a global fashion center, add twin transformation to our existing advantages, and benefit from the opportunities of e-export. We consider all these headings as strategic issues.”
Paşahan used the following expressions: “Hopefully, with the support of our members, we will continue on our path in the new term with the same understanding. We will further strengthen a structure that supports exporters, rewards producers, and facilitates competition. Thus, we will establish the infrastructure that will carry our ready-to-wear sector to its medium- and long-term goals.”
At the Istanbul Apparel and Garment Exporters’ Association (IHKIB), the flagship of the Turkish ready-to-wear sector, the countdown continues for the elective general assembly to be held in April. Mustafa Paşahan, who currently serves as Vice Chairman and was nominated as the joint candidate for the IHKIB Presidency by nearly 20 sectoral associations six months ago, shared information about the work carried out for the ready-to-wear industry and the projects planned for the new term at a press conference he organized. Mustafa Paşahan underlined that IHKIB’s leadership and the sector’s unity and solidarity in the most difficult times, coming together through consultation and common sense, played a major role in Türkiye becoming a global player in ready-to-wear. Reminding that he announced his candidacy with the slogan “unity, solidarity, experience, continuity,” Paşahan said: “Hopefully, with the support of our members, we will continue on our path in the new term with the same understanding. We will further strengthen a structure that supports exporters, rewards producers, and facilitates competition. Thus, we will establish the infrastructure that will carry our ready-to-wear sector to its medium- and long-term goals.”
“Employment Support Came into Effect as a Result of Our Initiatives in Ankara”
Mustafa Paşahan emphasized that Türkiye is the world’s seventh-largest and Europe’s third-largest exporter in ready-to-wear, exporting to nearly 220 countries and regions. Stressing that the fashion industry is of critical importance for the Turkish economy with its value-added production, employment, and exports, Paşahan said: “Our ready-to-wear sector is going through a challenging period conjuncturally. We are aware of the competitiveness problems of our companies, especially SMEs, and we continue our initiatives on every platform to find solutions. As a result of the intensive initiatives we carried out in Ankara, our SMEs have been benefiting from employment support for the last year. However, under the current economic conditions, we know that the employment support increased to 3,500 liras for 2026 and the minimum wage support of 1,270 liras are not sufficient. Therefore, we conveyed our expectations to the highest authorities in Ankara to relax the conditions and increase employment support to 6,000 liras, minimum wage support to 2,500 liras, foreign exchange conversion support to 10 percent, and reduce the interest rate on rediscount loans to 15 percent. We will continue to work for our ready-to-wear sector and to follow up on our demands.”
Mustafa Paşahan stated that the fashion industry will continue to maintain its strategic importance for Türkiye in the medium and long term, and that as IHKIB they are continuing on their path with this understanding and shaping all their game plans and strategies accordingly. Explaining that they are working with the dream of a Türkiye that directs global fashion and is a country of brands, Paşahan continued: “While trying to produce solutions to the current problems of the sector on one hand, we are shaping the future of our fashion industry on the other. We are developing and implementing projects to improve qualified human resources in the sector, strengthen design capacity, benefit from the multiplier effect of branding, make Istanbul a global fashion center, add twin transformation—namely digital and green transformation—to our existing advantages, and benefit from the opportunities of e-export. We consider all these headings as strategic issues.”
“We Brought IFCO, the Sector’s 30-Year Dream, to Our Industry”
Stating, “It was granted to us four years ago to bring the Istanbul Apparel and Fashion Fair (IFCO), the sector’s 30-year dream, to our country,” Paşahan continued: “At IFCO, Europe’s largest ready-to-wear fair, which we will organize for the ninth time in February, we bring our companies together twice a year with thousands of buyers from more than 150 countries. I would like to underline that our Ministry of Trade provides a support of 5,400 liras per square meter for IFCO, which has been granted prestigious fair status. In addition to IFCO, we take part in global-scale fairs with our companies and bring our companies together with potential buyers through delegation programs. In the last four years, we participated in 77 fairs with nearly 3,000 companies. Through 75 delegation organizations, we led 1,820 companies to meet with 15,000 foreign buyers.”
“We Became a Pioneer in Digital and Green Transformation”
Reminding that the global ready-to-wear sector is going through a major process of change and transformation, Mustafa Paşahan underlined that in order for Türkiye to emerge advantageously from this process, digital and green transformation—in other words, twin transformation—must be completed rapidly. Emphasizing that twin transformation is of critical importance especially for SMEs, Paşahan used the following statements: “As IHKIB, we have been working on twin transformation with this awareness for nearly 20 years. To accelerate transformation, we collaborate with our ministries, the European Union (EU), our universities, and our stakeholders, and develop projects. We have provided grant support to our sector from the EU and national and international institutions for these projects. With these supports, we have brought permanent institutions to the sector. We established the Istanbul Fashion Academy (IMA), which trains designers for our fashion industry, and the IHKIB Digital Transformation Center, which provides services to our companies in digital transformation and productivity, with EU grant support. At the Digital Transformation Center, we accelerate the transformation processes of our SMEs and increase their productivity. To date, we have provided digital transformation support to hundreds of companies. We have made EKOTEKS, which provides exporters with cost-effective and reliable testing services, one of the world’s leading laboratories. In our EKOTEKS laboratories, we offer low-cost testing services to our sector.”
Providing information about three new projects launched in 2025 with a focus on digital and twin transformation, two of which were initiated with EU support, Paşahan said: “With our ‘Transition to the Green Economy’ project, in which the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TIM) and the textile, chemical, and logistics sectors are also stakeholders, we focused on sustainable production. With our Digitalization Service Network in Manufacturing Industry – MIDAS Project, we support the digital transformation of SME-scale companies. We are carrying out the Twin Transformation Project in the Ready-to-Wear Supply Chain with the support of the Istanbul Development Agency. In short, with our completed and ongoing projects, we take pride in making our fashion industry the sector that carries out twin transformation the fastest in Türkiye. We will definitely add twin transformation to our existing advantages and thus strengthen the competitiveness of our companies. From here, I call on all our companies, especially our SMEs: Come and benefit from the services of IHKIB; let us turn transformation into an advantage together.”
“In the New Term, We Will Continue to Develop Solutions and Add Value to Our Sector”
Mustafa Paşahan also listed the priorities that will be among his agenda in the new term, in addition to solving the sector’s conjunctural problems and accelerating twin transformation, as follows: “We will establish an SME Committee and an SME Support Desk within the IHKIB Board of Directors. Thus, we will further strengthen our existing ties with our SMEs. By developing new collaborations with Eximbank, Türk Ticaret Bankası, and IGE Inc., we will facilitate access to low-interest and long-term financing for more of our companies. We will ensure that our companies benefit from state supports in the most effective way. We will increase participation in fairs and trade delegation programs. We will continue our initiatives to find permanent solutions to visa problems. We will ensure the expansion of the practice of counting sales made to foreign nationals as exports so that more of our exporters can obtain green passports.”
