Turkish textile fair debuts in US to promote products

By Islam Dogru

NEW YORK (AA) - Turkish textile exporters organized a fair, I Of The World, in the U.S. to promote the country's textile products.

The two-day event kicked off on Tuesday with 32 Turkish companies joining. The first-ever fair was organized by Istanbul Textile and Raw Materials Exporters’ Association (ITHIB).

Turkish Deputy Trade Minister Riza Tuna Turagay stressed the U.S. is a significant and major market in the textile sector.

While the U.S.' textile and apparel imports are around $100 billion annually, Turkey has its share with some $1 billion exports to the U.S. in these sectors, said the official.

Turagay added that the figure does not reflect the potential of Turkey, of which textile and apparel exports are around $29.5 billion yearly.

Ahmet Oksuz, the chairman of ITHIB board, said the fair will contribute to the $100 billion bilateral trade target.

"Turkey is the sixth-largest textile supplier in the world and the 10th in the U.S. market, our goal is to gain higher achievement," he said.

Oksuz recalled that the U.S. implements 15% taxation on Turkish textile products while it has free trade agreements with Jordan and Egypt.

He said: "Therefore, competitiveness gets difficult for us in similar products."

*Writing by Gokhan Ergocun from Istanbul