The ‘Made in Turkey’ tag has become a cause of deep concern for the apparel retailers who sell their goods in Russia, with the Russian sanction against Turkey in place.
This development against Turkey came after the downing of one of Russia’s fighter jets. Brands like H&M, Mango, and Inditex are considering moving their production base of Russia bound products from Turkey to African countries as they are expecting a ban on textile and apparel imports into Russia from Turkey. The sanction is limited to food products and other fruits and vegetables grown in Turkey, but the Russian distributors and national suppliers expect this sanction to place a ban on textile and apparels as well, which is one of the major sectors for the Turkish economy.
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Fearing the embargo, Turkish readymade garments exporters too are planning to move to Africa in order to extend their client base and compensate the losses they would incur due to the Russian sanction. “Our textile export numbers with Russia have already been on a decline since the last two years due to falling ruble and the Ukraine crisis. We were planning to boost the textile and apparel exports in 2016, but the Russian jet crisis has disturbed our plans,” said Himket Tanriverdi, Head, Istanbul Readymade Garment Exporters’ Association (IHKIB).
Currently, Turkey is one of the leading apparel supplier to EU, only behind China and Bangladesh, and ahead of India and the Maghreb region of North Africa. Turkey exported apparel worth € 9.1 billion to the Old Continent in 2014.
