Ahmet Öksüz said, “Our textile industry was one of the sectors most negatively affected by the disaster. The textile and ready-made clothing sector exports of the textile city Kahramanmaraş also decreased by 30 percent in 2023. However, we have experienced difficulties before as well. With the cooperation of the private sector and our state, we emerged stronger from all of the shortfalls. We overcame the difficult times by becoming stronger with more investment, more production and more employment move. We can do it again if we unite and implement policies that are in the interest of the country which we believe wholeheartedly."
"Production Lines in the Region Have Been Commissioned"
One year has passed since the earthquake disaster on February 6, 2023. The earthquake disaster affected the entire country, especially the cities in the earthquake zone. After the earthquake, everyone from all segments of the state to non-governmental organizations mobilized for the recovery. After the earthquake disaster in which thousands of people lost their lives, the necessary effort was made on housing and supply issues with the recent actions to have taken for the revival of the regional economy. Production lines have also been put into operation to a large extent in the region where great effort has been made cooperatively. While making evaluations on the subject, Ahmet Öksüz, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Istanbul Textile and Raw Materials Exporters Association (İTHİB) said, “Our country faced an earthquake disaster, one of the biggest calamities in the world, on February 6. First of all, I wish Allah's mercy on those whom suffered their lives and patience to our dear citizens left behind. Our citizens set a great example with their effort in the last year. With the spirit of solidarity, all of Turkey flowed into the earthquake zone. Under the leadership of our Turkish Exporters Assembly, we built living centers right after Kahramanmaraş centered earthquake. At the point which we reached after the earthquake, the major portion of the production has been recommissioned in Kahramanmaraş with the cooperation of our state and our industry. The region was of great importance in terms of Turkey's production power. With this feedback, we should make an emphasis on the rapid recovery process in the region after the earthquake. The more we support the region, the more our production power will increase."
"The Rapid Recovery of Kahramanmaraş Carries Great Importance"
While pointing out that the exports of Kahramanmaraş, one of the cities most affected by the earthquake, decreased by 30 percent in 2023, Ahmet Öksüz said, “Despite the disruption of production from Kahramanmaraş, losses in employment and contractions in global trade, more than 1 billion dollars of exports were achieved in 2023. Our textile industry was one of the sectors which affected the most negatively by the disaster. In addition to being an exporter in the textile industry, our city of Kahramanmaraş is a strategic port for our textile industry, feeding Turkey's 82.5 billion dollars of textile and ready-made clothing production and supplying raw materials to our sectors in the domestic market. Therefore, it is of great importance for our textile and ready-made clothing sectors that our city of Kahramanmaraş will recover as early as possible. During this period, Kahramanmaraş's textile and ready-made clothing sector exports decreased by 30 percent to approximately 700 million dollars. There is a 27 percent decline in our exports in the iron and non-ferrous metals sector, a 49 percent decline in the furniture, paper and forestry products sector, and a 14 percent decline in the grains, pulses, oilseeds and raw materials sector."
"We Succeeded Before, We Can Do It Again"
While underlining that the earthquake disaster that occurred at the beginning of 2023 had a great adverse impact on exports, Ahmet Öksüz said, “After the disaster in February, the markets stopped for a while. When the recovery period began, a global economic recession came into effect. As the textile industry, we closed 2023 with an export of 11.6 billion dollars, with a decrease by 10 percent compared to 2022. However, the decline rate in world textile imports of the EU and the USA, our biggest export markets, was much higher. Although the European Union countries and the USA experienced a 20 percent decline in textile imports, we maintained our shares in these markets. We are one of the few countries in the world that can successfully carry out all stages from cotton production to ready-made clothing production. We also faced a global demand contraction in previous years. However, with the cooperation of the private sector and our state, we emerged stronger from all of the shortfalls and from political and economic instability in our nearby geography. We overcame the difficult times by becoming stronger with more investment, more production and more employment move. The textile industry, one of Turkey's leading sectors, will continue to produce and contribute to our country's economy in this temporary period, in line with its past experiences. We will come out of the difficult days even stronger.”
