Turkish apparel industry calls for creation of ‘production hubs’

ISTANBUL 

Türkiye’s ready-to-wear industry has called for the establishment of regional production hubs to help reverse market contraction and declining employment in the sector.

Turkish Clothing Manufacturers’ Association (TGSD) Co-Chair Toygar Narbay said the industry needs a new and integrated industrial policy that brings together production, exports, employment, financing, technology and branding under a common objective.

“As large companies shrink, our production scale, skilled workforce and supply chain have also weakened,” Narbay said.

Narbay proposed the creation of production basins under Turkish capital and management along a corridor stretching across Syria, northern Iraq and Azerbaijan.

He said such production hubs could help attract cost-sensitive orders, make better use of idle machinery and increase utilization of Türkiye’s textile and supporting industries, ultimately lowering costs.

“Through these production basins, we can secure cost-sensitive orders, reactivate idle machinery and fill domestic textile and supplier capacities,” Narbay said.

According to Narbay, Syria alone could generate 250,000 jobs and provide annual export capacity of $5 billion in the medium term.

Assessing the impact of ongoing conflict in the Middle East on the industry, Narbay said Türkiye’s ready-to-wear exports fell 2 percent in January-August, while textile exports rose 1 percent during the same period.

He also noted that capacity reductions in the Far East caused by the energy crisis had redirected some orders to Türkiye.

“While demand has contracted by around 10 percent in the United States and Europe, the contraction in Turkey has remained at 2 percent, indicating that orders are continuing to come to Türkiye,” Narbay said.