Egypt unrest halts Turkey’s textile firms

Economy

Egypt unrest halts Turkey’s textile firms

Foreign Textile companies have been concerned about their investment in Egypt as the political instability in the country has created high-risk environment for the investors. Some Turkish textile firms have decided to stop their operations until the violence in the country ceases.

There are many Turkish textile companies, which make up around 80 % of Turkey’s more than $2 billion investments in Egypt according to the official numbers. Orka Tekstil and LCWaikiki have temporarily suspended their operations and future investment plans. “We shut down the stores in Egypt for the safety of the staff and clients and production was halted in Alexandria city because of curfew on August 14,” said chairman of LCWaikiki, Vahap Küçük.

However, Orka Tekstil decided to postpone their further investments in Egypt. “Egypt is an important market for us. We have stores in Alexandria and Cairo. We have put aside our plan to increase store numbers for a while,” said chairman of Orka Tekstil, Süleyman Orakç?o?lu. He noted that they would continue their investments after these incidents terminated. Orka Tekstil has Damat, Tween and D’S Damat brands.

Other than textile firms European oil giant Shell, Swedish home appliances maker Electrolux and Turkish manufacturer of food products Y?ld?z Holding have already announced that they would halt their production in the country due to the state of emergency. Turkey’s Economy Minister Zafer Ça?layan said the ministry didn’t receive any shut down notification from Turkish companies that have operations in Egypt.

Egypt has been highly favored by both Turkish textile firms and others to establish production facilities thanks to its low production costs and its ability to sell customs-free goods to many countries.