Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 9
By Matanat Nasibova – Trend:
The delegation of Azerbaijani textile manufacturers is expected to visit Turkey in September 2018 to discuss the possibilities of joint production of export-oriented products, Head of the Azerbaijan Textile Producers and Exporters Association Mehriban Akhundova told Trend Aug. 9.
"We intend to attract Turkish companies to our country to arrange joint production of textile products for further export to the CIS countries," she said.
“First, this gives certain advantages to Turkish producers [thanks to duty-free import of goods from Azerbaijan in accordance with agreements on a free trade zone with the CIS countries] for them to be able to increase volumes of export to the CIS countries’ markets,” Akhundova said. “This is also beneficial for the Azerbaijani economy.”
"This is fairly global work and we will need some support from the Azerbaijani Ministry of Economy," she added. “At the moment, work in this direction has been launched. We have already launched negotiations with the Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO). In September we intend to begin more active discussions in this direction.”
“Presently, the bulk of textile products supplied to the market from abroad, namely Chinese and Pakistani goods, are mixed fabrics, which contain a lot of polyester,” she said. "This applies to both children's clothing and clothing for adults. As the prices for these products are very cheap, the majority of the population prefers them. As opposed to them, our local products are mainly produced from very high-quality fabrics.”
“As for children's clothes, they are made from 100 percent cotton,” she added. “The clothes are made from the highest quality combed yarn, which is one of the most expensive types of yarn in the world, as it is environmentally friendly. Presently, the only advantage of the imported goods is very low prices.”