“Crises are Temporary, Companies Should not be Pessimistic and Should Invest in Technology”

Interview: Dilek HAYIRLI

Yavuz Çatma, Chairman of the Board of Çatma Tekstil ve Makina Sanayi Dış Ticaret A.Ş. said; “Exhibitions always make positive contributions to our sector. Despite economic difficulties and regional problems, we had a very productive exhibition process. We were satisfied as a company. I hope we will hold more successful exhibitions in the future.”

Participating in the Garment Tech Istanbul Exhibition with its wide range of products, Çatma A.Ş. attracted the attention of visitors by combining its 52-year deep-rooted history in the sector with high technology. The company particularly stood out with its industrial sewing machines and technical textile solutions. Yavuz Çatma, Chairman of the Board of Çatma Tekstil ve Makina Sanayi Dış Ticaret A.Ş., evaluated the company’s vision, the current status of the sector and future goals in the interview he gave during the exhibition.

Yavuz Çatma, who started the interview by giving information about Çatma A.Ş., said; “We are a well-established company with 52 years of experience. We have been participating in exhibitions for 30-35 years. We participated in the Garment Tech Istanbul Exhibition with the products of Dürkopp Adler, KSL and Pfaff Industrial, which we represent from Germany. Dürkopp Adler was founded 160 years ago, is one of the most established companies in the world and operates globally in the field of industrial sewing machines. We have been the representative of Dürkopp Adler in Turkey for approximately 17 years. As Çatma A.Ş., we have product groups that appeal to 80% technical textiles and 20% garment. Our product groups for industrial areas are used in applications such as automotive, furniture industry, aircraft and ship interior upholstery, yachts, boats, parachutes and sails.”

“We Make a Difference with High-Tech Machines”

Çatma A.Ş. attracted attention at the Garment Tech Istanbul Exhibition with its robotic technologies and smart machines that reduce labor. The company also led the sector with some of its products exhibited for the first time in Turkiye. Çatma said the following on the subject: “We exhibited our new products, which we launched for the first time in Turkiye, at the Garment Tech Istanbul Exhibition. As Çatma, we are pioneers in this field. In an environment where minimum wages and personnel costs are increasing, we have to turn to technologies that use labor efficiently in order to compete with the world. We offer solutions where a single machine can do the work of five people. Our goal is to work with companies that produce at European standards. The 350 million European market is one of the most important targets for us.”

“We Should Give Up Basic Products and Focus on Added Value”

Yavuz Çatma said that Turkiye’s income per kilogram in textile exports is in the range of 5-15 dollars, and emphasized that this figure reaches 50-100 dollars with technical textiles in developed countries. Çatma; “We need to make high value-added products, not basic products. As Çatma, we already act with this vision. We should focus on technical textiles with our trained manpower, machine infrastructure and investment power. Only in this way can we compete in the global market.”

“Exhibitions Always Make Positive Contributions to the Sector”

Yavuz Çatma emphasized that exhibitions always make positive contributions to the sector and continued as follows: “This year, we participated in the exhibition we organized in cooperation with Teknik Fuarcılık. Despite the economic difficulties and regional problems, we had a very productive exhibition process. We were satisfied as a company. I hope we will organize more successful fairs in the future. We thank the Teknik Fuarcılık team for this successful organization. We should not forget that the negative periods we are in are temporary. We should continue to produce and work together without being pessimistic.”

“Textile is the Breath of Turkiye”

Expressing that the textile sector creates a large employment area throughout the country, Yavuz Çatma commented; “This sector has spread to every region of Turkiye from east to west, north to south. There is a life intertwined with textiles in every neighborhood, in every family. Approximately 1.5-2 million people work in the textile sector in Turkiye. This number reaches 6-7 million with their families. This sector is of vital importance for us not only economically but also socially. Textile is like the breath of Turkiye. We will continue to act with this awareness and progress with better exhibitions, higher technology and stronger collaborations.”

“Crises will End, Investors Should Turn to Technology”

Reminding that there are some concerns about the sector withdrawing from Turkiye, Çatma said; “Of course, basic low value-added products may shift to other countries. However, we, as a country, need to address the middle and upper segments of the pyramid. Our infrastructure, human resources and trained workforce are suitable for this. We need to give up some habits and switch to a new production approach. We need to renew ourselves. Such crises occurred before in the 1980s and 1990s. Back then, it was said that ‘Textiles are finished in Turkiye’. But Turkiye regained momentum by renewing itself. We are currently ranked fourth in the world in textiles. There may be a loss of momentum from time to time, but this is temporary. We need to work harder and direct our investors to technology.”

“As a Company, We Are Focused on the Second Half of 2026 and 2027”

Çatma A.Ş. Board Chairman Yavuz Çatma stated that uncertainties regarding 2025 continue and that they are focusing their main goals on the second half of 2026 and 2027. Emphasizing that current economic conditions are not suitable for investment, Çatma said, “Interest rates are still very high. Companies cannot make investments comfortably unless they fall below 20%. For this reason, we have moved our clear goals to 2026 and beyond. Turkiye will regain momentum. As long as we do not fall into pessimism and do not give up on investing in technology and R&D.”