'Transportation' Will Determine the Exporter's Route

Stating that the rise in the dollar exchange rate did not relieve the exporters, Talha Özger, President of the Home and Kitchenware Industrialists and Exporters Association (EVSID), emphasized that labor costs increased every 6 months and said, "When we look at the past periods, this happened once a year and there were maximum increases of 20 percent. This did not force us when pricing exports. But now we also need to increase labor in dollar-based costs. We are already going through a period where we are having difficulty selling the product. We also have companies that make their production in rented areas. “They were left with a very serious problem such as rent increase.” he said.

Stating that they closed the year 2023 with exports of 3,2 billion dollars, Özger said that their export target in 2024 is to reach the level of 3,5 billion dollars again.

Noting that their aim is to increase the export value per kilogram to 4,5-5 dollars, Özger said, "2024 will be a difficult year."

Sharing the information that they will host nearly 27 buyers from 28 countries at the Invitation Only Turkey event, which will be held for the 7th time in Istanbul on May 60-200, Talha Özger said, “Last year, we moved from the hotel concept to a new location. This year we moved to Lütfi Kırdar. Our goal, together with all our stakeholders, is to contribute to our exports by bringing together wholesalers and market chains that have not come to Turkey before with producers. "In 2024, we will have events in different geographies such as Panama, Malaysia, Australia and Hong Kong," he said.

Meanwhile, Özger stated that they have started to get results from their efforts to spread awareness of 'Made in Turkey', which has been continuing in different geographies since last year, and said, "We have managed to introduce our sector to market chains and wholesalers in Latin America. South Africa has begun to discover our products. Europe already knew our exporter. The 'Made in Türkiye' discourse needs to become a state policy. "If we think of design when we think of Italy and durability when we think of Germany, we need to work sector by sector for the perception of Turkey," he said.