Berke Içten (Türkiye): Sustainability is not a fashion. It should be a must

In 2023, as you mentioned, in May, we are going to host this event, the World Footwear Congress, in Istanbul. As you know, Istanbul is the meeting point of continents: west and east meet in Istanbul. We’re also very excited to hold this event. We believe that for many decades, Turkish manufacturers have stayed inland too much: inside their factories and inside the country. So, in the last 10 years, Turkish exports started to increase, and our federation’s mission, and of myself as President, is to make Turkish companies more known internationally and make the Turkish footwear industry more global. That’s why we think the World Footwear Congress, will be a good opportunity to help the Turkish footwear industry to become more global and more international.

Starting in 2023, the date for the Aymod exhibition will be the first week of February, so this is moving in front of Micam now. So, we are very delightful and very happy to accept more international exhibitors from Italy, Spain, and Portugal. We also expect more visitors and more exhibitors.

Because of the pandemic, as you mentioned, the sustainability issues slowed down a bit, because production became more important. In this period, sustainability got into second or third place in the priorities of companies, but for the future of the globe and human beings, sustainability is very important. It is not a fashion. It should be a must. And according to this demand, we are trying to help our companies to achieve the necessary goals in this issue. We’re trying to catch the European level and trying to help our industry, its associations and foundations, and technical research centers, all together, to set up a collaboration to achieve the desired level.