There is a silver lining to the global supply chain crunch for Turkey: The country is becoming an attractive alternative at the gates of Europe for foreign firms, Trend reports citing Daily Sabah.
Turkey is seizing its geographic advantage to woo companies as the skyrocketing cost of sea freight and pandemic-related disruptions to supply chains push some European companies to reduce their dependence on Asia.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has promoted a new slogan for exports: "Made in Turkiye," marketing products in Turkish instead of the internationally known "Made in Turkey."
The country’s exports reached a record $225.4 billion (TL 3.07 trillion) last year, with a target of $300 billion set for 2023.
"Many international companies are taking action to supply more from Turkey," Burak Daglıoglu, head of the presidency's investment office, told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
He said the country offers automakers or textile companies a "competitive talent pool, sophisticated industrial competencies, well-developed services industries, perfect geographic location and state-of-the-art logistic infrastructure."
Furniture retail company Ikea announced last year it wanted to move part of its production to Turkey.
The Italian clothing group Benetton told AFP it wants to "increase its production volumes in countries closer to Europe, including Turkey."
Peter Wolters, vice-chairperson of the Netherlands-Turkey Chamber of Commerce, said the business group received "requests from the household and garden sector, textile and fashion and also yacht building industry who search for new partners in Turkey."
Japanese electronics contractor Kaga Electronics is going to build a factory in Turkey, shifting a portion of the production from China and Southeast Asia, it also said back in December.
The company said it hopes to take advantage of Turkey's strategic location and expand the Middle East and Europe orders. “Kaga hopes to leverage its new production base to win orders related to auto-related parts as well,” it said.