Burak Sertbaş, Chairman at Aegean Apparel and Garment Exporters' Association (EHKIB), delivered a message to the young: "Textile Has Future!". Chairman Sertbaş invited young people to prefer Textile Engineering departments of the relevant universities. Sertbaş also explained that $26 billion out of $168 billion exports of Turkey realised in 2018 come from Apparel and Textile sectors.
Project On Improving The Perception Of Textile Engineering
Carried out in cooperation with Aegean Apparel and Garment Exporters' Association and Aegean Textile and Raw Materials Exporters' Association along with Izmir Provincial Directorate Of National Education, Project On Improving The Perception Of Textile Engineering is launched with the presentation of Ahmet Şerif İzgören, Pedagogue and Author, titled "Adding Value" prepared for Counsellors In Izmir".
Textile And Garment Exports Of Turkey For 2018 Is $26 Billion
"We are having a foreign trade surplus of $ 17 billion in foreign trade balance. While the export unit price of the automotive sector was $7 /kg, the export unit price of our textile and apparel sector was $14.4 /kg. We can easily say that our sector is a "high value added" sector and our export unit price is far above the average price of Turkey. When we integrate all value chains into our sector, we employ about 2 million people", comments Sertbaş, noting that textile and garment exports of Turkey for 2018 is $26 billion while import at the same segment is $9 billion.
Engineering Departments Are Not Preferred By The Young
Sertbaş further explains they have launched Project On Improving The Perception Of Textile Engineering for the purpose of promoting "Textile Engineering" to meet the need for a qualified competent textile engineer for the apparel and garment sectors in the upcoming years. "Perception of Engineering in Turkey is getting worse. Engineering departments are not preferred by the young. Textile engineering is no different. There is a serious supply and demand shortage in our textile and apparel sectors. Therefore, and in line with the demands from the sector, we would like to ensure that the Textile Engineering departments of the Engineering Faculties are preferred by the students in the upcoming years. We aim to direct students who speaks foreign language to ”Textile Engineering" departments. Delivering a speech, Ömer Yahşi, Director of the Izmir Provincial Directorate Of National Education, states Aegean Exporters' Association proposed this project to them and it suggested they believed how advantageous it would be for those young students to study such majors and fruitful outcomes to be achieved as a result and then said that they decided to work together on this project. Starting her speech by saying "Meet the Very Fashion Preference", Elvan Ünlütürk, Committee Chairman at EHKIB Educational Institutions and Industrial Cooperation, suggested that textile engineers turns dreams into apparel in textile sector and they serve as a bridge between design and production. Ahmet Şerif İzgören, Pedagogue and Author, on the other hand, has delivered a presentation titled "Adding Value" for counsellors and educational managers in Izmir.
