Dear Members,

The apparel industry holds critical importance in terms of value-added production, contribution to employment, exports, and foreign exchange earnings in the Turkish economy.  Our industry has been a pioneer in investment, employment, production, and exports since the early 1980s. Based on industrial data published in 2022, our sector reached 65-billion dollar production capacity, while our exports exceeded 21 billion dollars. We have provided employment opportunities for nearly 750,000 individuals.

We have been able to rapidly adapt to changes and conditions in the global landscape. Over the past four decades, we have successfully survived from at least three substantial transformations. Now, we are in a new transformation period accelerated by the pandemic. In this period, our companies need to make a decision on remaining in or leaving the sector.  The reason for this is our necessity to make large-scale investments in order to renovate all processes, particularly in the context of digital and green transformation. In the past, investments were mostly made to increase capacity and make modernization which, in turn, were resulted in a quick return. This time however, return on investments may take a much longer time.

In the face of such intense investment needs, productivity will be the determinant criterion for competition. Therefore, we must ensure and quantify efficiency in all business processes. To enable these measurements, we should digitalize our processes.

The sector has come this far with the ‘Partner Integrated System.’ New conditions are challenging us to implement the ‘Full Integrated System.’ Our businesses now have to be transformed to fully integrated structures. We should design our organizational structures based on this reality.

To sum up, we are facing a challenging period of transformation. During this process, we should change our existing habits and develop different business models. We should engage in long-term partnerships with customers based on creating value. We should focus on high-value-added products, moving away from price competition.

While consolidating business processes within our organization, we should make our organizational structures more flexible and agile. Especially, we have to increase all forms of flexibility in meeting customer demands. All of these tasks, and of course, value-added production, can only be achieved with a skilled workforce. Therefore, we should prioritize qualified human resources more than ever before.

As the Turkish Clothing Manufacturers Association, we will continue to provide guidance to our industry, members, and companies in this critical transformation process, just as we have done in the past. We will shape the activities of the new period within this framework. We will convey the needs arising from transformation process to the public authorities to provide the necessary support. We will encourage and inform our companies to prepare long-term programs. We will continue to prioritize immediate needs and goals.

Turkish apparel industry distinguishes itself from its competitors through its design power, unique collections, fast fashion capabilities, and high quality. In our second term, one of our top priorities will continue to be promoting the sector’s strength and potential more effectively on a global scale, especially in Europe and the USA.

The Turkish Clothing Manufacturers’ Association supports the sector with global awareness in paralel with its founding purpose and philosophy,. At the heart of our global consciousness lies the fundamental principle that one’s labor should be valued irrespective of gender. Through our ‘Joint Presidency System’ that we initiated with the 23rd General Assembly, we not only declared but also put into practice the principle of gender equality. We continue this practice in the new term as an example and source of inspiration for civil society organizations in different sectors. 

In this challenging but equally honorable and prideful duty, your solidarity is our greatest source of motivation, and your views and suggestions will be our guide. With the belief that you will not withhold your support in the new term, as you did in the first term, we once again extend our gratitude to all of you.

Respectfully,

Ramazan KAYA                                                                Sanem DİKMEN
23. Period Co Chair                                                        23. Period Co Chair