Türkiye's target for exports in the furniture sector is $12 billion (TL 427.33 billion), Trade Minister Ömer Bolat said Tuesday, addressing an event in Istanbul and highlighting that the country stands at seventh place in the world considering the shipments from this industry.
Bolat recalled that furniture exports, which stood at $250 million in 2002, have now reached $4.5 billion, emphasizing that the approximately 18-fold increase is a great success.
"When we add wood products, forest products and paper, the sector reaches an export volume of $8 billion. They can sell goods to even the richest and largest markets in the world," the minister told the International Istanbul Furniture Fair (IIFF), referring to the Turkish furniture sector.
Pointing to the progress made in the past two decades, the minister noted that many Turkish products, from Turkish delight to Turkish coffee, were introduced and recognized internationally. "There are products and services that are recognized worldwide and identified with Türkiye, such as Turkish fabric, Turkish apparel, Turkish furniture, Turkish steel, Turkish white goods, Turkish TV series, Turkish Airlines and Turkish tourism," Bolat said.
He also referred to the growth of the Turkish economy, noting that today, Türkiye is the country that "exports $375 billion worth of goods and services."
"As the Ministry of Trade, we are trying to support exports by supporting our exporters with 60% of our budget. Last week, we announced the 2025 Export Action Plan. With this plan consisting of measures consisting of 77 actions, we aimed to exceed the $390 billion promised by our president in terms of Türkiye's exports of goods and services in 2025," Bolat further said.
"Last year, we provided TL 24.7 billion of export support from our budget; this year, we will provide TL 33 billion," he added.
"The furniture sector, which has reached 2% of Türkiye's total exports, has also reached 2% of world furniture exports and has risen to seventh place in the world, but it is not enough; God willing, we will climb even higher together," he noted.
Separately, in a social media post, the minister said: "Today, we came together with valuable representatives of our sector by participating in the International Istanbul Furniture Fair, one of the largest organizations in Europe, with the participation of over 3,000 brands."
"The Turkish furniture sector is gradually consolidating its well-deserved place in world markets with its strong production capacity, high-quality products, and innovation, sustainability and design-oriented strategy," he wrote on X.
He also congratulated all industrialists and manufacturers "who have contributed to Turkish furniture becoming a brand and exporting it to all corners of the world."
