The Textile Summit (TEXSUM 2020) was organized for the first time on February 19-20 by Uludağ Textile Exporters Association (UTİB) and Bursa Uludağ University Textile Engineering Society. The presentations made by academia and important names from the industry revealed the importance of the textile industry at the event held at Bursa Mete Cengiz Cultural Center.
Several important names attended the opening ceremony of TEXSUM’20, which brought together the representatives of the textile and clothing industry, academia and university students: Rector of Bursa Uludağ University (BUÜ). Prof. Dr. Ahmet Saim Kılavuz, UTİB Chairman of the Board Pınar Taşdelen Engin, UHKİB Chairman of the Board Nüvit Gündemir, Istanbul Textile and Raw Materials Exporters Association (İTHİB) Deputy Chairman of the Board Ahmet Şişman, İstanbul Apparel Exporters’ Association (İHKİB) Board Member Nur Hepyüksel Keçik, Dean of BUÜ Faculty of Engineering. Dr. Akın Burak Etemoğlu, Head of Textile Engineering Department Prof. Dr. Dilek Kut, academics, industry representatives and students. Making the opening speech of the program, BUÜ Rector Prof. Dr. Ahmet Saim Kılavuz said that the university has made serious strides in terms of science and technology recently.
TEXSUM 2020: “Textile sector has not lost its importance, on the contrary it is developing and diversifying”
‘Industry Leaders’ panel was held in the first session that started after the opening speech. This panel was moderated by BUÜ Textile Engineering Department Head. Prof. Dr. Dilek Kut, while Uludağ Textile Exporters Association (UTİB) Chairman Pınar Taşdelen Engin, Uludağ Apparel Exporters’ Association (UHKİB) Chairman Nüvit Gündemir, İTHİB Vice Chairman Ahmet Şişman, İHKİB Board Member Müge Hepyüksel Keçik discussed the recent developments in the textile industry.
In her speech, UTİB President Pınar Taşdelen Engin emphasized that the textile sector has not lost its importance, on the contrary, it continues to develop, diversify and evolve in our country and in the world. Engin said that Turkey’s textile industry is in a very strong position as it is Europe’s largest manufacturer. Engin continued her words as follows;
“We are not just a country that produces standard and classic products, our industry is truly diversified. In addition, we serve a sector that can produce with its own resources and real quality products are produced at every level of the production chain. In this sense, we are very lucky. We are seventh in textile export in the world. We are the third biggest garment supplier in Europe. We are also very strong in terms of employment. We provide more than 1 million jobs with ready-to-wear. In fact, if we consider the indirect sectors, we are well above 1 million. Again, we are one of the sectors that give the most foreign trade surplus together with ready-to-wear. This is a very valuable situation for our national economy”.
Pınar Taşdelen Engin underlined that it is necessary to develop especially in technical textiles. Engin; “We need to do more research and production on this issue, and to produce and export value-added products. Turkish technical textiles kilograms value in exports is an average of 2.9 dollars according to 2019 data while it is 11.5 dollars in USA and 12.7 dollars in Japan. This shows us that we still have a long way to go”.
Bursa achieved an 8% increase in exports last year
UHKİB Chairman of the Board Nüvit Gündemir said that the ready-to-wear industry has entered a serious trend of success in recent years. Gündemir said that Bursa industrial exports increased by 8% last year and this is over the Turkish overall exports. Expressing that this data shows that Bursa and its surrounding region is better adapted to trends, Gündemir announced that they have set an export target of 750 million dollars this year.
Products developed through R&D increase turnover
Ahmet Şişman, Deputy Chairman of ITHIB Board, emphasized the importance of R&D. Pointing out that 12-13% of the sector’s turnover is provided by the products developed through R&D and to the increase at this rate every year, Şişman said; “We have now started investing according to these. In the new term, we will work more closely with students. University industry cooperation started to increase in our country. I think textile will go to much better places in the future. We brought the ready-to-wear from Europe, now its technical textiles’ turn. There is a great opportunity, it will open a new door”.
İHKİB Board Member Müge Hepyüksel Keçik reminded that the Turkish ready-to-wear and apparel industry export was 17.8 billion dollars. Stating that the sector’s global trade size is 2 trillion, Keçik noted that the sector needs educated people.
In other sessions held within the scope of TEXSUM’20, officials of the important brands of the sector shared their sector evaluations and experiences.