Textile industry eyes $5 billion exports to US

A delegation from the leading Turkish textile and apparel associations has recently traveled to the U.S., eyeing to boost the industry's exports to the lucrative American market to at least $5 billion.

More than 40 Turkish companies attended the 'I of the World' event organized in New York. During the two-day event, Turkish exporters held talks with representatives of 120 American firms.

The trade delegation included members from the Istanbul Textile and Raw Materials Exporters' Association (İTHİB) and Istanbul Apparel Exporters' Association (İHKİB).

The Turkish textile industry has been sending trade delegations to the U.S., which is one of the strategic markets of local textile companies, over the past four years. This year, apparel companies joined them to explore opportunities in the U.S., the world's largest importer of apparel.

Representatives from large brands, such as Polo Ralph Lauren, Ann Taylor and Calvin Klein, had talks with Turkish companies, people from the associations said.

"We will be able to see the results of those talks within two weeks," they said, adding that Turkish companies target consumers from the middle- and high-income groups in the U.S.

Turkish companies have the capacity and high-quality products to meet demand from those consumer groups, they added.

The combined production capacity of the Turkish textile and apparel industries is around $82.4 billion, according to Ahmet Öksüz, the president of İTHİB.

"The purpose of the visit by the trade delegation is to help the textile and apparel companies increase their access to the U.S. market," he added.

The U.S. is the eighth largest export market for the Turkish textile industry, Öksüz said, noting that it ranked third in...