‘Financing Sustainability’ Symposium from İTHİB
Istanbul Textile and Raw Materials Exporters’ Association (İTHİB) organized a symposium on ‘Financing Sustainability’ with the participation of its members. Ahmet Öksüz, Chairman of the Board of Directors of İTHİB, made the opening speech at the meeting, where speeches were made about the steps to be taken for a sustainable textile sector and green transformation activities.
Ebru Dildar Edin, Chairman of the Board of the Business Council for Sustainable Development (BCSD Turkey),She gave a speech titled ‘Financial Transformation on the Axis of Circular Economy and Sustainability’.
Moderated by Orbit Executive Board Member Bikem Kanık, the session on ‘Sustainable Investment Concepts – Financing on the ESG Axis’ included the following speakers: Seçil Kızılkaya Yıldız, Deputy General Manager of Development and Investment Bank of Turkey; Arif Ergin, Chief Marketing Advisor of Green Economy Financing Facility (GEFF Turkey), Berna Özay Düzcü, Sales Group Director of TEB Corporate Firms, Mert Avcı, Manager of Sistem Global International Projects and Development Consultancy, and Caner Gençeli, Sustainability Manager of Eximbank.
In his opening speech, Ahmet Öksüz stated that green transformation is one of the top priority agenda items.”
“We carry out many activities in the field of sustainability. We use all our materials such as trainings, seminars, Development of International Competitiveness Projects, ISTKA and EU projects, sustainability road map to spread sustainability to the grassroots in our sector. We are aware that sustainability is not a choice but a necessity today, and that is why we were the first sector to announce an action plan for sustainability. Our action plan received the ‘Exemplary Action Plan Award’ from the Corporate Social Responsibility Association of Turkey,”
“We aim to become one of the top 3 textile exporting countries in the world”
Öksüz continued his words as follows: “With Denim Deal, we will work more closely with global brands to transform reusable fabrics and garments. We will continue our work and projects at the same pace in the coming period. As you know, we are one of the largest exporter sectors with an export volume of 31.2 billion dollars with the ready-to-wear sector. With a production value of 78 billion dollars, we are one of the largest sectors of the manufacturing industry. 49 billion dollars of the 78 billion dollar production is realized by our textile sector. We account for 14% of production exports. We are the fifth largest supplier in the world. We have increased our share in global textile exports from 2% to 3.4%. In this framework, we aim to become one of the top 3 textile exporting countries in the world in the long term by maintaining our position in the global league and leaving our competitors behind.” he ended his words.
“The textile industry also has significant potential”
Ebru Dildar Edin stated that the textile industry is at the forefront in the focus on sustainability and the use of innovative technology; “The textile industry also has significant potential in the implementation of circular economy and waste management systems. The sector located a position to accelerate the green transformation by creating new business models that change consumption habits.”
Seçil Kızılkaya Yıldız stated that companies that are not ready in terms of sustainability may have financial difficulties. Yıldız said, “In this sense, we find this transformation in the textile sector very valuable. In fact, every sector needs to make all preparations within the scope of the Paris Climate Agreement, of which we are a signatory, and within the scope of the European Green Consensus Action Plan. The textile sector is really very successful in this sense.”
Caner Gençeli emphasized that international financial institutions may have different sustainability approaches. Gençeli, “In this context, we attach importance to sustainability-oriented management of companies. Our companies want to invest in sustainability and use loans in this area, but we can see that companies have not prepared sustainability policies or established the necessary organization,”
Mert Avcı said; “There is an international project cycle system. When we approach according to this system, it is seen that our main issue is to make the analysis correctly, to match the problems and solutions correctly and to determine the current situation correctly. One of the main problems in our sectors is that our needs analysis is weak. If the opportunities to realize projects are greater than the risks, it is always worth trying.”
Berna Özay Düzcü, TEB Corporate Firms Sales Group Director, said, “In order to leave a more livable world for future generations, we strive to fulfill our environmental responsibilities as an institution and to ensure that our stakeholders with whom we have business relations fulfill their responsibilities in this regard.”
Finally Arif Ergin evaluated that: “Companies are not sufficiently aware of access to financial opportunities for green projects. Although awareness of project development in the field of sustainable energy and resource efficiency is increasing every year, it still has not reached the desired level. The Green Economy Finance Facility (GEFF Turkey) is a program launched by the EBRD to develop financial solutions that overcome these market barriers and contribute to Turkey’s green transformation process.”