Speaking at the opening of IFCO, the largest ready-to-wear and fashion fair in Europe organized by IHKIB for the fourth time, Trade Minister Ömer Bolat stated: The ready-to-wear and textile sectors have vital importance for Turkey.

Trade Minister Ömer Bolat: As the Ministry, we provide support for IFCO in terms of promotion, 50% participation, and buyer delegation assistance. We brought 94 buyer delegations from 26 countries to Turkey to meet with participants. Our support will continue to increase in the future.

Mustafa Gültepe, President of TİM and IHKİB: In the medium term, we aim for exports of $60 billion, with $40 billion from ready-to-wear and $20 billion from textiles. We possess the potential with our brand identity, design strength, trained human resources, and brands in production.

The fourth edition of Istanbul Ready-to-Wear and Fashion Fair (IFCO), which quickly gained global prestige in the Turkish fashion industry and is the largest in Europe, was inaugurated with the participation of Trade Minister Ömer Bolat.

Numerous buyer groups, including Wallmart and Inditex, as well as thousands of distinguished buyers from five continents, came to Istanbul for the fair organized by the Istanbul Ready-to-Wear and Clothing Exporters’ Association (İHKİB).

During the opening ceremony, Trade Minister Ömer Bolat emphasized the vital importance of the ready-to-wear and textile sectors for Turkey. Bolat expressed great satisfaction in supporting Europe’s largest ready-to-wear and fashion fair, saying:

“As the Ministry, we provide support for IFCO in terms of promotion, 50% participation, and buyer delegation assistance. We expect 30,000 visitors here. We brought 94 buyer delegations from 26 countries to Turkey to meet with participants. We will continue to increase our support in the future. We will always stand by this sector, all production, and investments. Just as we stand by our workers, artisans, farmers, retirees, and traders, we will also stand by our exporters and industrialists 24/7. We will continue to work to strengthen the country’s economy for them.”

“We will work to increase export support in the 2024 budget.”

Referring to the target of $400 billion in goods and $200 billion in service exports for 2028, Minister Bolat continued his words:

“We are working step by step to realize our 2028 vision. As one of our first actions after taking office, we increased Eximbank’s capital by 40%. This brought an extra 70 billion Turkish liras in credit volume for our exporters. In addition, while the Central Bank of Turkey is following a policy of retracting credit volumes that suppress demand in the face of internal demand-related inflation, they increased rediscount credits for exporters by fivefold. The daily limit was increased from 300 million liras to 1.5 billion liras. We, as the Ministry, will make our export supports available to you to the fullest extent.”

Mustafa Gültepe, President of TİM and IHKİB, also emphasized in his speech that they continue their journey with the goal of taking Turkey into the top 10 countries in exports. Gültepe highlighted that the 2028 vision will be the first major test in this journey:

“For 2028, with our 27 sectors, more than 115,000 exporters, and 61 exporter associations, we are working day and night for $400 billion worth of goods and $200 billion worth of service exports. Two weeks ago, we held our ‘2028 Export Promotion and Vision Meeting’ with the participation of our Deputy Minister Mr. Vokan Ağar, bureaucrats, and association presidents. Our associations will prepare their projects and present them to our ministry by November. I know our job is not easy. We made significant progress in calm waters in 2021 and 2022. However, this year we are trying to navigate against waves in stormy seas. Global demand has been slow for about a year. Despite inflation and high costs, the stability of the exchange rate damaged our competitiveness. We closed the seven months with $143.4 billion in exports. We are almost at a similar level compared to last year. The level the exchange rate reached and the new regulations regarding access to finance have partially provided relief to our exporters. We will start seeing the positive impact of these regulations in the coming months. On the 100th anniversary of the founding of our Republic, we will achieve our target of $265 billion in goods exports and $120 billion in service exports.”

Mustafa Paşahan, Deputy President of IHKİB, also mentioned that they aim to make Istanbul a fashion hub and Anatolia a production base. He emphasized that IFCO is a crucial milestone in achieving this goal:

“Just like the first three editions, we have prepared IFCO with great ambition. We have brought together all product groups under one roof. More than 400 distinguished companies participated in our fair, representing women’s, men’s, and children’s clothing, denim and sportswear, eveningwear, bridalwear, menswear, lingerie and socks, leather and fur, and shoes. We are proud and delighted to host thousands of buyers from more than 100 countries. With buyer delegations from target and distant countries, including the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom, our participating companies will engage in bilateral business meetings and establish new collaborations. We will start seeing the positive impacts of these collaborations on our exports in the upcoming months.”

Şekip Avdagiç, President of Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (ITO), emphasized that the ready-to-wear and clothing sector should not compromise on branding, design, value-added production, and skilled workforce to maintain competitiveness. Avdagiç expressed his happiness in observing that IHKİB keeps the sector vibrant through its biannual IFCO event. He said, “I am pleased to see that the synergy provided by IFCO, which I closely follow, continues without diminishing. This event is taking a leading role in identifying and eliminating any doubts that may arise in various areas.”