President Sadıkoğlu: "Rising costs negatively impact employment and exports"

Oğuzhan Ata Sadıkoğlu, President of the Board of Directors of the Malatya Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MTSO), stated that Malatya's exports have experienced a decline of nearly 50%. "The share of labor costs in rising production costs has reached 20%. In the current conjuncture, it is not possible to compete with countries like Egypt and Bangladesh, where labor costs are $100 or $200. As the business community, we expect comprehensive incentives," he said.

The Turkish Exporters Assembly (TİM) announced the export figures for September. Evaluating the export figures, Oğuzhan Ata Sadıkoğlu, President of the Board of Directors of the Malatya Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MTSO), said, "In September, we achieved exports of $24 million 668 thousand from Malatya, a 45% decrease compared to the same month of the previous year. Uncertainties in foreign trade, rising costs, economic fluctuations in the domestic market, and the agricultural frost we experienced have negatively affected our province's exports."

"OUR COMPETITIVENESS IS WEAKENING"

President Sadıkoğlu stated that rising production costs have negatively impacted export figures. "Factories in our organized industrial zone can no longer compete with the world. Companies facing increased labor and energy costs are reducing production. This situation negatively affects both our employment and exports. Favorable credit packages with suitable interest rates for our producer companies must be urgently implemented," he said.

A LOSS OF 6,000 IN THREE YEARS

Highlighting the challenges in the textile and ready-to-wear sector, President Sadıkoğlu said, "The textile and ready-to-wear sector was the main employment area of our city. Before the earthquake, the number of employees in this sector in our OSB was 21,000, but today this number is around 15,000. There has been a loss of approximately 6,000 people in three years. This needs to be carefully analyzed. Due to rising costs, some personnel have been laid off, and some factories have completely closed. Previously, the share of labor costs in production costs did not exceed 10%, but now it has reached 15-17%. In the textile and ready-to-wear sector, there are some special products where the share of labor costs has reached 50%. In the current conjuncture, it is not possible to compete with countries like Egypt and Bangladesh, where labor costs are $100 or $200. As the business community, we expect comprehensive incentives," he said.