Yesim Textile, one of Turkey’s largest suppliers to brands including Nike, Zara and Tommy Hilfiger, is to build a new 44,000 square metre ready-made garment production facility in the Agri region in the east of the country.
The facility, which is part of the Agri Textile City Project, will produce ready-made garments for global export, and will employ 5,000 workers once the facility is operational.
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Yesim manufactures apparel for global brands including Pull&Bear, Bershka, Esprit, Calzedonia, Tchibo, Converse, Tommy Hilfiger and Mavi. It has also been a production partner for Nike since 2005.
In an email to just-style, a spokesperson for the group confirmed the factory would be making ready-made garments for Nike, but also the other brands it produces for.
Separately, Turkish President Recap Tayyip Erdogan told a presidential rally that his aim is to make Agri the “textile manufacturing centre of the region.” He said the government would continue to support textile producers with incentives and would focus investments in areas of low-employment.
Though its economy is weakening, Turkey’s location close to its largest market, the EU, enables fast delivery times, flexibility for in-season repeats, and the ability to trial new products.
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By GlobalDataAccording to recent data from the Turkish Statistical Institute, Turkey’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) registered a 2.4% fall in the fourth quarter of 2018 compared to the previous quarter and after two consecutive quarters of a decline in GDP, it entered technical recession for the first time since 2009.
But exports of textile and fashion goods, particularly to Europe, have surged during 2018, mainly due to companies taking advantage of the devaluation of local currency. Figures from the Turkish Exporters Assembly showed a 3.6% jump in annual apparel exports for 2018 to US$17.6bn, up from US$17.03bn the year before. In volume terms, exports of apparel rose 7%. For the same period, textile and raw material exports grew 4.5% to US$8.5bn.
Turkey is eyeing US$19bn in apparel exports for 2019.
