The Importance of the Leather and Leather Product Industries in Turkey's Economy

Authors: GÜL UYSAL

Abstract: The leather sector in Turkey is important as it is a sector which exports final goods with high added value. The development of the leather sector and the continuation of its contribution to the economy are related to the development level of the country's livestock sector. For this reason, the leather and livestock sectors are examined together. In this research, 165 enterprises which deal with raw hide, leather tanning, leather goods and ready made clothes in Istanbul and which have an important place in the leather sector in Turkey were classified in term of their scale. An interview survey was performed between 1993 and 1996 at the enterprises to study their socio-economic structure and the problems they were facing. It was observed that the large scale enterprises in the leather sector were associated with more qualified employees and a great number of qualified employees and of foreign origin imported raw hide use was widespread in production. The study analyzed the previous 27 years (1970-1997) of the livestock and leather sectors with the ARIMA Model, and forecasted the next 10 years in terms of the trends in livestock production, leather production and foreign trade related to leather (assuming the current situation prevails in Turkey). It was predicted that the decreasing trend in the number of small ruminants and cattle and hence raw hide production, would continue between 1998 and 2007. The amount of imported raw hide, therefore, is expected to increase between 1998 and 2007.

Keywords: Leather products, Foreign Trade, ARIMA, Turkey's Economy

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