The International Leather Days Fair attracts visitors from all around the world every year and has become a focal point of the leather world with 37,240 visitors from 55 countries. Not only does the ILD offer strong trade opportunities, it also underlines that Istanbul is an important fashion centre. 436 firms from 31 countries participated at the exhibition from January 9-11, 2002. The 12th ILD was the most successful fair since the Russian crisis and visitor numbers and participation surpassed pre-1998 levels with fair participators commenting: ‘The organisation is great’, ‘It was a fashion banquet’, and ‘The participants are of the highest quality’.
The fair was opened by the Minister of State, Kursat Tuzmen, on January 9th and was attended by authorities of sector institutions and establishments stating that the exhibition is a great, specialised and international fair. Tuzmen added that the world of fashion is starting to take a close interest in the Turkish fashion industry. He added: ‘In the coming years, our country will occupy the position of supporting other countries in this sector. Türkiye will be a pioneer in fashion and we will do our best at both the Foreign Trade Undersecretariat and the Customs Undersecretariat and the Eximbank to enable Türkiye to become fashion creators and brand builders.’
IDMIB chairman Mehmet Buyukeksi noted in his speech at the opening ceremony that the Turkish leather industry occupies a prominent position in the national economy. ‘And in 2002, we captured our target of US$750 million with an increase by 15%. This figure is very important to us because we are the 12th highest ranking industry to record an increase in exports.’
