Talking textiles with Turkey

Turkish researchers offer innovative textile solutions to many serious problems: form-fitting ambulance stretchers with antibacterial and protective properties, military uniforms with antimicrobial and weather-resistant protection, and hats fitted with small photovoltaic panels powering a camera and related sensors to help those suffering from visual impairment. What these innovators need is the capital to bring these products to market, and the Uludag Textile Exporters’ Association (UTIB) organizes the International Textile and Apparel Sector R & D Brokerage Event to invite potential investors to see the possibilities. The most recent event in mid-May in Bursa attracted participants from 20 counties, as reported by a local business news site. “We have been holding this research and development event since 2009,” says Ibrahim Burkay, president of the UTIB. “To date, 100 projects have found investors to support their launch.” Turkish textile producers seek new export destinations because of political tensions between Russia and Turkey and in the Middle East as a whole. Textiles, leather and clothing accounted for 7.94 percent of Turkish manufacturing and 1.63 percent of the country’s GDP in 2011; these figures are forecast to decrease to 7.61 percent and 1.55 percent, respectively, in 2016.