The Opening of the VI. Laleli Fashion Shopping Festival
The opening of the Laleli Fashion Shopping Festival 2017, organized by LASİAD for the 6th time this year, took place on Monday, August 7th, at the DoubleTree By Hilton Hotel. The opening was attended by Istanbul Governor Vasip Şahin, Mayor of Fatih Municipality Mustafa Demir, President of Istanbul Apparel and Apparel Exporters’ Associations (İHKİB) Hikmet Tanrıverdi, presidents and executives of sectoral NGOs, and LASİAD members.
A New Export Target of 6 Billion Dollars
Speaking at the opening of the VI. Laleli Fashion Shopping Festival, LASİAD President Eyyüpkoca stated that bad days in Laleli’s exports were left behind with the previous year and they made a good start in 2017. Eyyüpkoca mentioned a 25-30% increase compared to the same period last year in the first half of the year, stating that the buyers invited to the festival would have a boosting effect on the market.
Eyyüpkoca emphasized that they brought 250 buyers from 8 countries, each with more than 10 stores, to Istanbul this year, and they will make sales to at least 2,500 stores in total.
Eyyüpkoca underlined that they set out again with an export target of 6 billion dollars, saying:
“Last year, we went through a very difficult period due to July 15th. 20 days after July 15th, we had the 5th Laleli Fashion Shopping Festival, and we struggled incredibly. It was a difficult time, explaining our concerns, convincing foreign buyers, bringing them here was very difficult. Without losing any ground, we convinced and brought more than 200 buyers from 8 countries here, and there were commercial activities much higher than we expected.”
İHKİB President Tanrıverdi: Laleli Deserves Much More
Following Eyyüpkoca, İHKİB President Hikmet Tanrıverdi highlighted the special place of Laleli in Turkish ready-made garment exports. Tanrıverdi said that the 30% export increase achieved by Laleli in the first half of the year was a morale boost for the fashion industry.
Istanbul Governor Şahin: Let’s Host the Buyers as Real Guests
In his speech at the opening program, Istanbul Governor Vasip Şahin mentioned that Turkish products, which were prominent with cheap goods 30-40 years ago, are now ahead with their quality. Şahin continued his words as follows: “In terms of cost, Turkish products are in a very good and advantageous position to compete. What is important for us is quality and stability in sales. I have a specific request from LASİAD and Laleli merchants, especially our friends who guide the Istanbul economy: we will host our guests as real guests and provide them with the most suitable service in terms of both quality and price, which is fitting with our economic and commercial tradition.
