Turkey will be strongly featured at Motexha 2006, the Middle East region's trade show for fashion, textiles, leather and accessories, which will take place April 3-6, at the Dubai International Exhibition Centre. More than 30 exporters from Turkey representing over 35 brands in textiles, leather and apparel will exhibit at the show.

Turkey is one of the most important textile producing countries in the world, with more than 40,000 companies involved in the textile and apparel sector. Close to a quarter of the top 500 industrial enterprises in the country operate in the textile and apparel sector and the industry is a key player in Turkey's industrialisation process. The leather industry in Turkey represents 2.2% of the country's total industrial production, with more than 2,200 companies working in the sector.

"The Middle East has a growing share within the total exports of Turkish leather shoes, textiles and apparel exports. We expect this to increase four to five fold within the next five years," said Selda Sehirlioglu of Turkey Aegean Exporters Association.