Good News from the Minister of Trade: Textile will be the Priority Sector in the New Credit Limit
Good news came from Trade Minister Ömer Bolat to increase the rediscount credit limits for exporters and to reduce the cost of credit. Bolat warned, “Do not ignore those who draw doomsday scenarios about the textile sector” and said, “The daily limit of the export rediscount credit has been increased 10 times to 3 billion liras. Priority will be given to the textile and ready-to-wear sectors.”
The ‘MESIAD 30th Year Value Adders Award Ceremony’, organized for the first time this year by the Merter Industrialists and Business People Association (MESIAD) for its 30th year, was held at Mariott Ataköy. Speaking at the award ceremony, Minister of Trade Ömer Bolat made important statements about the textile sector. Reminding that the daily limit of the export rediscount credit in Eximbank and commercial banks was increased 10 times to 3 billion liras, Minister Bolat said, “In the coming weeks, God willing, we expect a new good news, we are working with our Ministry of Treasury and Finance and our Central Bank. We are also making efforts to reduce their cost by 25.93 percent. The rediscount credit limit will increase, and hopefully we will prioritize employment-intensive sectors such as textiles, clothing, leather, footwear and furniture.”
“There is A Lot of Share to be Taken From the World Market”
Ömer Bolat – Trade Minisiter
Stating that the textile and apparel industry is one of the main sectors of Turkey, Trade Minister Ömer Bolat said that there has been a painful period in the last year due to the contraction in global markets. Bolat said, “We stand by the sector in this painful period. Areas such as food, clothing and shelter will continue until doomsday as long as human beings exist. So do not ignore those who write doomsday scenarios about the textile industry. We are following the concordat issue very closely. Concordat applications may have increased, but the number of concordat decisions taken by the courts is 44.”
Stating that both sectors constitute a volume of 80 billion dollars and 50 billion dollars of this is textile and 30 billion dollars is apparel, Minister Bolat said, “Today, the textile and apparel sector constitutes 13 percent of our exports with a share of 33 billion dollars. It is in the top three together with the automotive, chemical and energy sectors. In the 875 billion dollar world textile and ready-to-wear trade, we still have a long way to go. We took this sector from Germany, France and Italy. They were the textile and fashion centers of the world. They continue as fashion centers. But as a production and export base, Turkey has made a great leap forward since 1980. Our success in textiles has instilled self-confidence in other sectors.”
“We Launched a 10 Million Lira Grant Support Program”
Minister Ömer Bolat mentioned that there is 573 billion dollars of ready-to-wear exports in the world in 2023 and said the following: “There are about 286 billion dollars of textile exports. China ranks first. Especially in the ready-to-wear sector, there is a decrease of 2-2.5 billion dollars compared to 2022, and one of the most important reasons for this is that with the end of the pandemic and the decrease in quarantines, the explosion of demand in the western markets of developed countries has reached saturation. With the economic recession and high inflation process, there is a serious stagnation in demand there. In addition, efforts to adapt to the green economy are more effective in textiles, especially in apparel. This situation has reduced the demand for the final new products and made competition in production and sales in the market more difficult and brought along the pains of adaptation.”
Mentioning that the Ministry and the government are implementing a very important program on adaptation to the green economy, Bolat said, “We are helping the textile and clothing sector in this regard. We started an export support program under the name of responsible (responsibility) under the name of adaptation to the green economy and trade. We launched a 10 million lira grant support program for those who initiated a green economy adaptation program per company. In this regard, we will also offer credit opportunities under advantageous conditions with Eximbank loans, Ministry of Industry and Technology TUBITAK loans to companies that move forward in their efforts to adapt to the green economy.”
“We Are Working to Make Merter the Center of Fashion”
Speaking at the award night, MESIAD Chairman Gürbüz Oruç said that they are working to make Merter the center of fashion. “We will produce qualified, high quality products with brand value,” said Oruç, ”We have also seen that our trade has entered a stagnant period. As Merter, we have achieved a lot and we will achieve this too.”
Mustafa Paşahan, Vice President of the Istanbul Apparel Exporters’ Association (İHKİB), stated that success does not only consist of financial results and said, “Companies that contribute to the society, make their employees and stakeholders valuable, and observe their environmental and social responsibilities are the ones that will reshape the concept of success not only today but also in the future.”
Ahmet Öksüz, President of ITHIB, noted that the textile and ready-to-wear sectors are Turkey’s most distinguished sectors that complement each other, and emphasized that there is a textile turnover of around 50 billion dollars and a ready-to-wear turnover of 30 billion dollars, and that branding and new stories should be written. Vehbi Canpolat, President of the Textile Finishing Industrialists Association of Turkey (TTTSD), who received an award at the night, said: “We are the second country in the world that has achieved integration in textile and apparel. The number of players may decrease, but this sector will always exist.”
