While emphasizing that the textile, weaving and ready-made clothing sectors is one of the biggest sectors in Turkey which brings 20 billion dollars of income to the country every year, Ay said, “We are a giant industry that directly employs 1.5 million people and indirectly provides income to 4 million people. Unfortunately, such a big sector is slowly entering a bottleneck. Today, we began to experience the pain of contract manufacturing in apparel at the point where production decreased."
While stating that, according to the official figures, the textile industry suffered a workforce loss of 133 thousand people in April, Ay said, "Of course, retirement and the earthquake have a stake on this, but in the past, the sector was managed to replace the existing one, however, now this workforce cannot be fulfilled due to the decrease in production."
While also stating that the income tax portions for employees set at high levels, Ay said, “Tax portions have reached a level that hurts employees. Tax justice should be ensured as soon as possible."
