GARMENT AND TEXTILE PRODUCTION: FOCUS ON TURKEY
Turkey, located at the junction between Europe and Asia, is not only an important regional player in the garment and textile industry but also as a supplier to North America and elsewhere plays a significant role in global garment and textile supply networks. Trade liberalization in the 1980s designed to shift the Turkish economy to a more private-sector, market-based model, followed by the signing of a Customs Union Agreement in 1996 with the European Union facilitated the growth of Turkey's export-oriented garment industry.
According to the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers' Federation (ITGLWF) clothing and textile exports represent 40% of all Turkey's exports. Those working in the clothing and textile sectors make up 35% of the country's industrial workers (ITGLWF, 2003). Despite an economic crises in the late 1990s and in 2000-2001 that resulted in the closure of facilities, the sectors are once again going strong. “Export [of ready-to-wear clothing] which was US $450,000 in the 1970s, increased to US $2.5-3 billion in the 1990s and to US $7.4 billion in 2000, reached US $9.3 billion in 2002,” noted Umut Oran, head of the Turkish Clothing Manufacturers Association (TCMA). “Taking a significant leap this year, the sector is proceeding towards US $11.5 billion” (approximately 10.2 billion euros) (Agencies, 2003). Turkish textile exports in 2002 were valued at approximately US $3 billion (883,626,403 euros) (juststyle. com, 2003d). At a time when the number of jobs in the European Union’s textile and clothing industry are declining (down by 70,000 jobs in 2001 to 2.1 million) Turkey has become the European Union’s number two clothing supplier (behind China) and number one textile supplier. Turkey’s exports of clothing and textiles to the European Union were 9 billion euros in 2002. Big names in European garments, such as German fashion house Hugo Boss, German sportswear giant adidas, and Swedish retailer H+M produce clothes in Turkey. Some of Europe's top football
teams, such as Real Madrid, AC Milan, and Bayern Munich, have their garments made in Turkey. U.S. brands are in Turkey as well: Levi Strauss, Nike, and Gap, for example. The U.S.-based VF Corporation, the world's largest apparel company, reported plans in 2003 to invest US $15 million (approximately 13 million euros) to increase capacity at its factory in Soke SOMO Bulletin on Issues in Garments + Textiles, No. 3, Nov. 2003 – Page 2 (Just-style.com, 2002c; Just-style.com, 2003d; Fibre2Fashion.com, 2003; juststyle. com, 2002d; just-style.com, 2003d). Providing a full package of integrated services – from cotton to yarn, textiles, and clothing, dying and finishing, as well as proximity to its main market – Europe – Turkey has moved into the number three position along with Mexico in terms of clothing exports, behind China/Hong Kong, and Italy. Production capacity, plentiful raw materials (such as cotton), cheap labor, and investing into the modernization of its industry are all pegged as factors in Turkeys success in these sectors (Knitting International, 2003; Tait, 2000).