“Textile and Ready-to-Wear Export Figures Begin to Rise”
Texhibition İstanbul, one of the international meeting points of the Turkish textile industry, opened its doors for the 10th time. The exhibition brought together nearly 500 Turkish exporters with more than 25,000 professional visitors from 125 countries.
The exhibition was attended by Minister of Trade Prof. Dr. Ömer Bolat, Turkish Exporters Assembly (TİM) Chairman Mustafa Gültepe, İstanbul Chamber of Commerce (İTO) Chairman Şekib Avdagiç, the Anatolian Lions Businessmen Association (ASKON) Chairman Orhan Aydın, the heads of exporters’ associations and chambers of commerce and industry, industry representatives and numerous guests. The event brought together nearly 500 leading Turkish exporters with more than 25,000 professional visitors from 125 countries.
Speaking at the opening of Texhibition Istanbul, Minister of Trade Prof. Dr. Ömer Bolat stated that they would continue to further develop the textile industry, which he described as the leading sector in Türkiye’s industrialisation process, and noted that export figures in garment, ready-to-wear and textiles had started to increase this year. Pointing out that Türkiye is a global player in textiles and ready-to-wear, Bolat said: “In terms of quality, branding, design and fast delivery, we are among the world’s leading countries in the sector. We rank fourth in the world in textile exports and eighth in ready-to-wear exports. Global textile and ready-to-wear exports reached USD 858 billion last year, with Türkiye accounting for USD 31 billion of this total. This corresponds to a 3.6% share.”
Emphasising that the Ministry of Trade provides extensive support to the textile and ready-to-wear industries, as it does to all sectors, Bolat said: “We are working tirelessly day and night to ensure Türkiye’s success in industry, trade, exports, agriculture, services, logistics, IT and all other sectors. This year, we will exceed our export targets by a significant margin. Next year, we will continue working and striving together with you to achieve the targets set out in the Medium-Term Programme (MTP). These exhibitions are a reflection of Türkiye’s hard work, success and production capacity. The exhibition industry has grown into a EUR 7.5 billion sector, contributing EUR 4 billion directly to GNP.”
“The Difficult Days Are Behind Us; The Coming Period Will Be Better”
Türkiye Exporters Assembly (TİM) Chairman Mustafa Gültepe stated that the textile and ready-to-wear industry, together with its supporting industries, is one of Türkiye’s strongest and largest sectors. “In 2026, we are no longer recording the negative figures we saw in the previous period. Both ready-to-wear and textiles, as well as their supporting industries, are posting smaller declines. This is actually a sign of a degree of normalisation,” Gültepe said.
Noting that the emphasis placed on exports and production in the new Medium-Term Programme (MTP) is highly encouraging, Gültepe continued: “We will continue to work, produce, participate in exhibitions and organise trade delegations. Texhibition is the platform where our industry takes centre stage. Buyers from more than 100 countries are attending. Therefore, we will continue to protect our markets in the same way. In this context, I have strong confidence in the future of the industry. I believe the difficult period is behind us and expect the coming period to be better.”
“We Need to Continuously Increase Our Market Share”
Şekib Avdagiç, Chairman of the İstanbul Chamber of Commerce (İTO), said: “We are going through a challenging period in which opportunities and uncertainties coexist due to supply chains, geopolitical developments and cost pressures. All exporters are dealing with similar challenges. Global conditions are changing, markets are changing and customer expectations are changing. What we need to do, and what we are striving to achieve, is to meet the requirements of global competition with products that respond to these expectations and continuously increase our market share.”
“The Transformation Needs to Accelerate”
Speaking at the opening of Texhibition istanbul, Ahmet Şişman, Chairman of the Board of the İstanbul Textile and Raw Materials Exporters’ Association (İTHİB), stated that Texhibition Istanbul is not merely an exhibition, but also an important platform where the Turkish textile industry demonstrates its production strength, innovative capabilities and ambitions in global markets. “The strong interest shown in our exhibition is one of the clearest indicators of the confidence placed in Turkish textiles and the international reputation that our exporters have built over the years,” Şişman said.
Stating that the industry has entered a new era of global competition, Şişman said that Turkish textiles must take their production capabilities to the next level through technology, innovation, sustainability and branding. Şişman pointed out that the textile industry is facing not only rising production, labour and financing costs, but also fragile demand in its major export markets. Despite these challenges, he noted that the industry continues to maintain its strength thanks to its long-standing production expertise and the determination of Turkish exporters.
Pointing out that Europe continues to generate approximately USD 100 billion in textile production annually while transforming its manufacturing structure with a focus on technology, sustainability and higher value-added products, Şişman stressed that Türkiye must also accelerate this transformation.
Emphasising that it is difficult for the industry to carry out the transformation it needs solely through companies’ own resources under current financing conditions, Şişman said: “At a time when financing conditions have become so challenging, it is not possible for our industry to achieve this change and transformation on its own. Our industry needs to remain resilient and have sufficient time to accomplish this transformation. We need support mechanisms that will protect our competitiveness, facilitate access to finance and pave the way for new investments.”
“Support Mechanisms Should Be Expanded”
Şişman stated that they attach importance to the objectives outlined in the Medium-Term Programme, including increasing the production capacity and technological intensity of the manufacturing sector, combating unfair competition, reducing production costs and institutionalising regular consultation with the real sector.
He stressed that existing support mechanisms should be made more accessible and said: “We believe it is critically important to make existing support mechanisms, particularly the Foreign Currency Conversion Support and the Employment Retention Support Programme, more accessible to a wider range of companies, while simplifying application and implementation processes. These mechanisms should be structured in a way that enables more companies to benefit from them on a broader scale.”
