Ready-to-Wear Sector Targets USD 40 Billion in Exports

Apparel Sector Sets 40 Billion Dollar Export Target Graduation ceremonies were held at İHKİB protocol schools, which are counted among the most successful examples of public-private cooperation in vocational education. Diplomas were awarded to 467 students who completed their education at a ceremony attended by Mustafa Gültepe, Chairman of the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TİM). Gültepe, who also serves as Chairman of Istanbul Ready-Made Garment and Apparel Exporters Association (İHKİB), stressed the importance of educated, equipped and qualified workforce for value-added production and exports in his remarks at the ceremony. Recalling İHKİB's target of increasing ready-made garment and apparel exports from the 21.2 billion dollar level in 2022 to 40 billion dollars in the medium term, Gültepe continued: "To reach our target, we must increase our capacity for designed, branded, innovative and sustainable production. We can accomplish all these tasks only with an educated workforce. Based on this reality, we at İHKİB have been investing in education for years. Our cooperation with the Ministry of National Education on vocational education began in 1997. We expanded our cooperation in 2016 to cover five high schools. To meet our sector's primary need for qualified workforce, we have graduated over 9,000 students from our schools to date. Today, 467 more students have joined the ranks of our graduates. We organize activities at our schools to raise awareness about vocational education, contribute to students' personal and professional development, and enable them to put their creative ideas into practice. We are expanding the Fashion Design Technologies Skills Competition, which we suspended due to the pandemic, nationwide this year. The competition will draw participation from 344 schools and more than 9,000 students from 7 regions." Mustafa Gültepe also emphasized that they contribute to education not only in vocational training but also at the academic level. Highlighting that they have restored prestige to textile engineering through the 'My Choice is Textile Engineering Project', Gültepe stated that they provide education support at every stage across the entire value chain.

Güven Karaca: We Always Prioritize Investment in People

Güven Karaca, Chairman of the Istanbul Leather and Leather Products Exporters Association (İDMİB) Board of Directors, said in his remarks that support for education is an investment in the future. Karaca stated, "We can build the most technologically advanced factory and install the best machinery in it. But if we don't have an educated workforce, we won't achieve the productivity we want. For this reason, we always prioritize investment in people."

Ömer Avcı: Apparel Education is at the Center of Production and Employment Relations

Istanbul Provincial Assistant Director of National Education Ömer Avcı emphasized that apparel is at the very center of education, production and employment relations, particularly in the context of vocational high schools. Highlighting that apparel is also a creative field where intellectual and cultural capacity are utilized, Avcı stated: "Therefore, the creation of added value from fabric through companies with global competitive strength constitutes one of Turkey's most important steps in the context of industrialization. I believe this needs to be well understood."

İlker Karataş: Our Efforts Are Not Going Unnoticed

İlker Karataş, Chairman of İHKİB Education Working Group, said in his remarks that the interest shown in protocol schools demonstrates how correctly the sector is operating. Karataş stated, "Our efforts are not going unnoticed. The young graduates entering Turkey's strongest and most development-oriented sector refresh our confidence in the future." Following the opening remarks, diplomas and awards were presented to graduates from İHKİB Avcılar Vocational Technical Anatolian High School (MTAL), İHKİB Kağıthane MTAL, İHKİB Yenibosna MTAL, Nişantaşı Rüştü Uzel MTAL, Küçükçekmece Nahit Menteşe MTAL and İDMİB MTAL.