The World's Second Largest Textile Investor: The Turkish Textile Sector

In Turkey, which has the world’s 17th largest economy and the 6th largest economy in Europe, the textile and ready-made clothing sector holds a very important share of overall industry and is one of the country’s locomotive sectors.

Of its approximately $25 billion worth of exports of textile and ready-made clothing products, Turkey, in its position as the E.U’s second largest supplier, sends approximately 70% of its exports to this region.

After pressure from lower costs in the Far East, the Turkish textile and ready-made clothing sector underwent a serious period of transformation and rather than basic products it now concentrates its energy on the manufacture of high-tech, innovative products.

There are approximately 43,000 companies operating in the sector, of which 25% are active exporters. Of Turkey’s 500 largest manufacturing establishments, 20% of them are operating in the textile and ready-made clothing sector.

Approximately 20% of the companies that are operating with foreign capital in Turkey’s manufacturing industry are in the textile and ready-made clothing sector.

The Turkish textile and ready-made clothing sector, with its integrated structure that extends from cotton to fiber, thread to fabric, and fabric to ready-to-wear clothing; experienced manpower on every level; a structure that is innovative and open to change; a large domestic market and a strategic geographic position, will continue to be one of the world’s most important production and trade centers in the future as it is today.

SINCE 1962
Turkish Textile Employers' Association (TTSIS) has been established in 1962 to legally and professionally protect the social and financial rights of its members.

The main objectives of the Association are to create unity in the industry by facilitating collaborations among members, to financially support their professional activities and to invest in business ventures to raise the level of productivity and efficiency in the industry.
In addition the Association provides legal representation for its members and negotiates labor agreements, providing various domestic and international services for textile employers to maintain the best performance at their workplace.

TTSIS prides in being the first employers' association in Turkey to have negotiated labor agreements with trade unions. This experience has helped the association keep a pulse on the sensitivities of the labor force and the association has been able to consider their issues at every new period and phase in the industry. Believing in creating sustainability through social dialogue, Turkish Textile Employers' Association has built a solid reputation among all involved parties in the sector.

THE MEMBER OF INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
TTSIS works to find solutions to common problems in the industry, to protect the legal and social rights of its members and improve the industry standards to be able to better respond to the legal and technical demands of the modern business life.

In order to present the significance of the Turkish textile sector and to be able to protect it against unfair competition, the Association is registered with various international platforms.
TTSIS has seen the importance of international callaboration and therefore represents the industry not only at national level but also at international level as well. We are members of the International Textile Manufacturers’ Federation-ITMF, International Wool Textile Organisation-IWTO, the European Textile and Clothing Organization-EURATEX and the European Committee of the Cotton and Allied Textile Industries of the E.U.-EUROCOTON.

TTSIS believes in the importance of building a generation of well-trained individuals and participates in many education and research programs that support the intellectual and professional development in Turkey. In light of this mission, the association organizes seminars, conducts various research projects and publishes reports to build collaboration between the academia and the industry.

The Association announces its activities and services by way of its own publications and receives regular coverage at numerous media outlets in the country. Additionally the Association is subscribed to various national and international media and keeps a tab at all kinds of regional and global developments in the industry.

TTSIS gives utmost importance to the promotion of Turkey and the Turkish textile industry. The Association is also open to developing more international collaborations, meeting potential customers and building new strategic partnerships.