The delegation, including 26 companies operating in home textiles and textiles for clothing, have met 59 buyer companies from the related countries. Rıza Tuna Turagay, the Republic of Turkey Deputy Trade Minister, İsmail Gülle, Turkish Exporters Assembly President, Ali Kemal Aydın, the Republic of Turkey Ambassador in Berlin and Ümit Yalçın, the Republic of Turkey Ambassador in London participated and gave speeches in the opening meeting of the digital trade delegation hosted by Pınar Taşdelen Engin, the UTIB Chairperson of the Executive Board.

Pınar Taşdelen Engin, who has given information about the organization in the successfully conducted meeting, has highlighted that Turkey is putting its heart and soul into the work to overcome the challenging process that arose because of the pandemic. She has stated that despite the pandemic, they are continuing many projects without canceling them in the digital environment for sustainable production and export.

Pınar Taşdelen Engin has stated that Germany and the United Kingdom are among the most important markets. Here is what she has said in the meeting: “We aimed to revitalize exports to both countries, and to create business and investment opportunities with the Virtual Trade Delegation. This delegation is the first sectoral trade delegation formed under the name of the Turkish Textile Network, and we want to continue these series including the countries we target as the sector. 26 companies operating in home textiles and clothing textile products took part in the delegation. Within the scope of the delegation, 59 high-level home textile and clothing fabric buyers from the relevant countries will meet with our companies and 302 B2B meetings have been organized. While we were planning this delegation, we considered two sub product groups, Home Textiles and Ready to Wear Textiles, which our textile sector is very strong in. We are one of the most powerful trade partners of Europe in both areas.”

Pınar Taşdelen Engin reminded everyone that Turkey has 5% market share in textiles and 15% market share in home textiles in Germany. “This is great success in the context of all sectors. Also, Germany is a great gateway to the European Union for those of us in the textile sector. Similarly, the United Kingdom is one of our main markets, which ranked fourth as of the end of 2019. The United Kingdom is also an important market that ranks 16th amongst the world textile importing countries as of 2019, with a total import of 3.9 billion dollars. The United Kingdom imports mostly from China, Turkey and Germany. Textile imports from Turkey to the United Kingdom have increased by 5.33% compared to last year, reaching USD 377.5 million. Our country is the third biggest player in the United Kingdom’s textile market. The United Kingdom ranks fourth amongst the countries to which Turkey exports textiles. Maintaining and developing this 21 Participations: Agm Pazarlama Akar Akarca Tekstil Anılsan Havlu Sanayi Art Transfer Baskı Hizmetleri Beztaş Tekstil Burkay Tekstıil Dikici Tekstil Dına Vanellı Dörtrenk Ajns. Elvın Tekstil Ets Ezgi Tekstil Eylül Dokuma Mensucat Tekstil Güleser Tekstil İlay Tekstil İpeker Tekstil İpekiş Mensucat Kaçar Tekstil Lale Mefruşat Nihat Bursalı Tekstil Nil-Ba Tekstil Özçimen Tekstil Öztek Tekstil Polyteks Tekstil Rekor Dokumacılık Tebesa Dış Ticaret successful position is critical for our industry. As you are aware, England has also been one of the prioritized countries for foreign trade, identified by our Ministry of Trade. The United Kingdom has also been one of the two countries for which Turkey has the most trade surplus. In this respect, it has a unique and very special significance. In this context, developing a Free Trade Agreement between Turkey and England and not having a disadvantageous position against our competitors is important for us. We are always ready to contribute to the valuable projects of our Ministry in this regard. We aimed to revitalize exports to both countries, and to generate business and investment opportunities with the Virtual Trade Delegation. This delegation is the first sectoral Trade Delegation formed under the name of the Turkish Textile Network, and we desire to continue these series including the countries we target as the sector.”

The webinar of the event and the video showing the fabrics of the companies participating within the delegation can be accessed through the web pages below.