Turkish exporters target global fairs for market expansion

Şevval Aydoğan-ISTANBUL

Facing a global economic slowdown and weakening foreign demand, Turkish exporters are actively seeking new markets and customer segments to offset shrinking margins.

Türkiye’s exports reached $161.6 billion in the first seven months of the year. Slower orders, particularly in the European market and intensifying price competition have increased the need to seek alternative markets. International trade fairs have emerged as an important channel for establishing new business connections.

According to Turkish Exporters Assembly (TİM) Chairman Mustafa Gültepe, TİM and exporters’ associations organized participation in 198 international fairs between January and July 2025. In the same period this year, the number rose by 20 percent to 237.

“Our export performance in the first half of the year has benefited from the fairs we attended this year,” he said.

Mustafa Paşahan, the chairman of the Istanbul Apparel Exporters’ Association (İHKİB), said the organization is conducting 18 trade fairs and 36 trade delegation programs in various countries this year.

“We have so far brought together 1,031 companies with 128,502 buyers and facilitated 24,265 bilateral business meetings [in 2026],” Paşahan added.

Muhammet Öztürk, coordinator chairman of the Aegean Exporters’ Associations (EİB), said the organization has carried out national participation programs for 17 trade fairs across different sectors and supports the international marketing activities of more than 400 companies each year.

“We believe that through trade fairs and sectoral trade delegation programs, we will reach our $20 billion export target in a short period of time,” Öztürk said.