Turkish Ready-to-Wear, Apparel and Textile Products to Be Promoted Digitally in Spain

Turkey's second-largest apparel and textile exports market and the Aegean Region's leading market, Spain is in the sights of the sector. The Aegean Ready-Made Clothing and Apparel Exporters Association (EHKİB), the Aegean Textile and Raw Materials Exporters Association (ETHİB) and the Uludağ Textile Exporters Association (UTİB) will join forces and organize a digital trade mission on 24-28 May.     Jak Eskinazi, Coordinator President of the Aegean Exporters Associations and Chairman of the Board of the Aegean Textile and Raw Materials Exporters Association, noted that due to order postponements and cancellations resulting from the pandemic in 2020, Turkey's textile exports to Spain declined by 14%, recalling that exports to Spain reached USD 241 million during this period. Stating that as the Aegean Textile and Raw Materials Exporters Association they started 2021 with a 50% increase in exports in January, Eskinazi said "In February we achieved 65% export growth, and in March we captured 81% export growth. In the first 3 months we reached USD 90 million in exports with a 65% increase. In the first quarter of 2021 we achieved USD 1.5 million in textile exports to Spain with a 106% increase. In March our exports showed a 319% increase, reaching USD 848,000. Turkey ranks among the European Union's most important suppliers.

Our companies have significant infrastructure, quality and capacity in design, high value-added production and exports. For both textile and ready-made clothing sectors, we are the European Union's third-largest supplier. In the Spanish market, buyers want to see both the fabric and the design. That is why we wanted to combine our strength digitally with our 3 associations. From the day the pandemic started, the digital fairs and digital sectoral trade missions we organized created a driving effect throughout Turkey and we were pioneers in digital fair organization worldwide," he said.

Burak Sertbaş, President of the Aegean Ready-Made Clothing and Apparel Exporters Association, noting that in 2020 Spain ranked first with USD 322 million in ready-made clothing and apparel exports valued at USD 1.3 billion, said "The European Union is our most important export market. We carry out 50% of our textile exports and 70% of our ready-made clothing exports to European Union countries. And Spain, with its brands and purchasing groups, is a very strong and large market in the ready-made clothing and apparel sector. In our event for the fabric and ready-made clothing sectors, 45 participating companies will take part, with 24 from the Aegean Exporters Associations and 21 from UTİB. On the first day of the digital trade mission, webinars will be held to inform mission participants about the Spanish market. The other 4 days will feature bilateral business meetings. International promotional and PR activities are ongoing. In the first quarter of 2021, our ready-made clothing and apparel exports to Spain increased by 7% to reach USD 84 million. In March we have USD 28 million in exports with a 42% increase. On 27-28 October 2020, with the participation of 25 member companies, we organized a digital trade mission to the Netherlands and surrounding countries, which are among the top 5 countries where we achieve the highest exports. In 2021, we aim to remain active with digital trade missions in our main markets and new markets," he stated.