"Turn your earnings into investment for the sector's growth"

BOSAD Chairman Kenan Baytaş stated at a dinner held ahead of the paintistanbul&Turkcoat fair that 20% growth is expected in the paints sector in 2024. Noting that Turkey ranks 5th globally in paints production after Germany, Spain, France and Italy, and that the goal is to move up to 4th place, Baytaş said, "Turkey has a paints production capacity of 600,000 tonnes. We export to 160 countries. Do not think of the paints sector only in terms of construction; due to its protective properties, it is also heavily used in industry. 85% of exports are made by 10 companies, and 85% of production is also done by these same 10 companies. We import 70% of raw materials from abroad, but we have high-value-added products. Aircraft paints, ship paints, and the paint for our domestic vehicle TOGG are also produced in Turkey," he said.

Costs have risen; this industry cannot bear these wages

Baytaş noted, "Inflation has increased, and industrialists are paying the price. A shortage of workers has begun. In the sector, blue-collar workers earn approximately TRY 25,000-30,000. However, workers immediately leave for slightly higher wages. Even EYT has become a burden for us." Stating that the sector's most important problems are financing structure, localization, and advance import payments for raw materials, Baytaş said, "Long payment terms exhaust the sector; terms need to be reduced to 2-3 months as they are abroad." BOSAD Vice Chairman Hakan Ünel said that branding is essential for increasing Turkey's paints exports, and that for this to happen, profits must first be converted into investment. Noting the need to focus on high-value-added paints and that these are mainly industrial paints, Baytaş stated, "There is nothing without chemistry anymore, this has become very clear, incentives are being provided, and we have facilities that are about to open. Even if we achieve sectoral growth, global economic conditions reaching stagnant levels could create difficulties for companies putting all their eggs in one basket. In order to grow and close the gap in 2024 and beyond, we need to invest in important departments like R&D, position our companies to compete with global firms by closely following world developments. Of course, finding new markets and correctly identifying investment opportunities in these markets will also affect our growth," he explained. BOSAD Vice Chairman Ünel said they will continue working with experienced consultants and international associations, stating, "Our aim is to open the sector to different fields. We identify countries with growing construction sectors, conduct research in regions where demand is high but production is difficult to reach, and evaluate all data in this area. In order to be a growing BOSAD behind a growing Turkey, we are working to do the best we can." [caption id="attachment_160852" align="aligncenter"] From left to right: Cengiz Yaman, Kenan Baytaş, Hakan Ünel[/caption]

paintistanbul&Turkcoat Fair booth sales completed in January; over 50 companies could not find space

Cengiz Yaman, Chairman of Artkim Fuarcılık organizing the paintistanbul&Turkcoat fair, stated there is no reason why Istanbul, Turkey's trade capital, should not be a major international exhibition hub, and that fairs strengthen sectors by bringing them together while also stimulating tourism. Yaman said, "As Artkim Fuarcılık, we organize 13 specialized trade fairs for 13 sectors, with chemicals being the primary one. We work to embrace sectors exporting over 32 billion dollars in total and connect them with the world. Those who thought fairs would end due to the recent pandemic are shown how wrong they were by rapidly growing fairs worldwide. At the same time, we present Istanbul, which is one of the most beautiful cities in the world and in our view the most beautiful, as a package together with our fairs. We convince buyers that the fair dates at our Istanbul fairs are when they can spend their time most valuably for both business and leisure. Along with this, strong fairs of course cannot happen with just local exhibitors; we explain to exhibitors and companies from around the world that our fairs and Istanbul are the right place to find business partners. Our fairs receive participants and visitors from an average of 80 countries," he said.

The world's colors meet in Istanbul

Noting that booth sales for the paintistanbul&Turkcoat fair were completed in January, Yaman said, "We have 359 direct exhibitors, of which 243 are foreign exhibitors. There will be participation from 29 different countries. When we count the brands represented, we will have 586 exhibitors. We have 11,237 square meters of space, and due to limited availability, we were unable to include over 50 companies. We expect to welcome more than 9,000 sector professionals, of which 30% will be international," he stated.