Türkiye's ready-to-wear exports fell 2 percent in January-August, and the industry's main manufacturers' association is responding with a proposal to build Turkish-capitalled production hubs across Syria, northern Iraq and Azerbaijan.

Turkish Clothing Manufacturers' Association (TGSD) Co-Chair Toygar Narbay outlined the plan in remarks reported on September 9. He argued the sector needs a new, integrated industrial policy that ties together production, exports, employment, financing, technology and branding under one objective.

The context is a shrinking industrial base at home. "As large companies shrink, our production scale, skilled workforce and supply chain have also weakened," Narbay said.

What would the production hubs do?

Narbay proposed creating production basins under Turkish capital and management along a corridor stretching across Syria, northern Iraq and Azerbaijan. The logic is capacity and cost-driven:

• Attract cost-sensitive orders that Türkiye currently loses on price
• Reactivate idle machinery sitting in domestic factories
• Fill unused capacity in Türkiye's textile and supplier industries, lowering overall costs

"Through these production basins, we can secure cost-sensitive orders, reactivate idle machinery and fill domestic textile and supplier capacities," Narbay said.

The headline numbers sit in Syria. Narbay estimated that Syria alone could generate 250,000 jobs and deliver annual export capacity of $5 billion in the medium term. That figure is an industry projection, not a committed investment, and the source gives no timeline beyond "medium term" or details on financing.

How are exports actually performing?

The January-August data Narbay cited shows a split picture: ready-to-wear exports down 2 percent, while textile exports rose 1 percent over the same period.

Regional conflict has hurt the sector, but shifts in Asia have partly offset the damage. Narbay said capacity reductions in the Far East caused by the energy crisis redirected some orders to Türkiye.

Demand in Türkiye's core Western markets has contracted far more sharply than Turkish output. "While demand has contracted by around 10 percent in the United States and Europe, the contraction in Turkey has remained at 2 percent, indicating that orders are continuing to come to Türkiye," Narbay said.

What it means for sourcing decisions

For buyers, the TGSD proposal signals that Turkish suppliers are looking at nearshore, Turkish-managed capacity in neighbouring markets to compete on price — a model that could eventually extend lead-time and cost options beyond Türkiye's borders.

The plan remains a policy call, not a signed deal. No factories, investors or government commitments appear in the announcement, and the $5 billion Syria export figure is an aspiration tied to a still-unstable operating environment.

TGSD's next step is pressing for the integrated industrial policy that would give the hub concept state backing — and, if adopted, Turkish suppliers would gain a corridor strategy aimed at winning back cost-sensitive orders now flowing to Asia.