Even during the Pandemic era, the Turkish Textile Industries boosted their production and showed the World the way to increase their exports. According to data released by an industry group, Turkey exported home textile products worth over $2.49 billion to 194 countries and autonomous regions last year.
A majority of the exports were made to the Western countries Germany ($480.6 million), the US ($295.4 million), and the UK ($128.7 million), according to data by the Turkish Home Textile Industrialists and Businessmen’s Association (TETSIAD) compiled by Anadolu Agency.
The impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Asia’s textile manufacturers has been unprecedented. According to a new ILO report, plummeting sales, closed factories, and lower wages are just some of the problems. Asia’s garment manufacturers are reeling from the damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic. They suffered from restrictions and lockdowns in their own countries and saw international demand for their products collapse. This is particularly dramatic in countries where the textile sector accounts for a large share of all exports.
Researchers from the International Labour Organization (ILO) have studied the pandemic’s impact on 10 major textile-producing nations in Asia: Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam. According to the ILO, around 65 million people work in the textile industry in these countries or 75% of all textile workers worldwide.
The exports worth $904.8 million to these three countries accounted for 36.33% of the total home textile sales. They were followed by Italy and the Netherlands with $107 million and $102.7 million, respectively. The exports to Afghanistan rose significantly by 130% to reach $2.37 million in 2020, compared to 2019. Moreover, exports to Vietnam surpassed $1.7 million, with 128.5% in the same period.
Therefore, there is a lot to learn from Turkish’s Textile Strategy for Pakistan and other Asian countries for lifting their textile exports despite pandemic.
