Vatan - The world’s textiles giant, Japan-based Uniqlo Group, has disclosed its decision to make Türkiye its production hub for the company’s exports to Europe -- the market where they hope to see rapid growth.
During his speech at the 7th Istanbul Fashion Conference, Yoshihiro Kunii, Uniqlo Group’s Executive Vice President for Production, said, “Uniqlo produces 1 billion units per annum. The majority of our manufacturing operations take place overseas. Once we open an office in Istanbul in October, we are planning to make Türkiye our production hub for items destined for sales in Europe.
Commenting on the company’s plans, Kunii said the Uniqlo Group is aiming to quintuple its production volume and added: “We are planning to boost our production to 5 billion units, up from 1 billion in 2013. Türkiye will become our 5th production hub in the world following India, China, Americas and Southeast Asia. We will develop our European trading operations from Türkiye, a country which creates fashion for the EU and USA. We highly respect the Turkish clothing industry. We learn a lot from you and would like to form long-term partnerships with you to contribute to high-quality fashion.”
During his presentation, Kunii said they are targeting sales worth USD 50 billion in 2020 and hope to open 1,000 stores per year. He stated that they currently reach customers through their 1,427 stores in 16 countries, adding, “We have seven brands; the major one is Uniqlo which accounts for a 30 percent share in our group. Our business volume in 2013 was USD 14 billion while we grow at a rate of 20 percent on average annually. We are the third largest company globally on a sectorial basis. For us, the quality is more important than costs. You may decrease the costs, but not the quality.”