Bursa Members Meeting, which was attended by AIMSAD Board Members, AIMSAD General Secretariat and Bursa members, was held on May 4, 2023. At the meeting attended by 45 people, developments related to both the association and the sector were discussed.
After the board of directors meeting held in Bursa, İMSAD met with Bursa members to listen to the requests and suggestions of the members and to give information about the works carried out by AIMSAD. At the meeting, attended by 45 people from 26 member companies that continue their commercial activities in Bursa, up-to-date information about the WoodTech Fair to be held in October was given by AIMSAD Chairman of the Board İsmet Toktaş.
Stating that the number of AIMSAD members has increased to 113, İsmet Toktaş said; “As you know, we are making new breakthroughs. The first of these is the separation of WoodTech and Intermob Fairs. Frankly, we are trying to steer the industry together in a difficult period, when profit margins are low. Recently, the Turkish woodworking machinery industry has been making serious progress abroad. Our goal was to make the sector more active and more active abroad, from the first day we founded AIMSAD. Our industry has problems, we know them, but despite these problems, we continue to grow. As an association, we are trying to solve our problems in the presence of the state, fair companies and non-governmental organizations. You know, we founded this association together. Therefore, AIMSAD is neither a board of directors nor an association managed by the president. The association is managed by the members, the association is managed according to the expectations of the members. Therefore, every decision we make must be in the best interest of our members. We have taken all our decisions this way until now, and our priority will continue to be the interests of our members in all decisions we will take from now on.”
Giving information about the separation of the fairs, Toktaş continued his words; “The separation of two fairs that have been organized together for many years is a difficult process. We are organizing a fair from scratch. Together with TÜYAP, we are working on some methods to make all the halls in the fair lively and a center of attraction. We tried to increase the square meters of both our new members and our old members. But this year is temporary, let’s not forget that. Next year, we will hold our fair on an area of 42 thousand square meters and we will overcome the problems that are on our agenda. Our fair is 32 thousand square meters, only one hall in LIGNA is 30 thousand square meters. We have some prejudices from the past regarding place. There is no place not to be seen at this fair. The visitor to this fair will come for the machine. Therefore, wherever visitors go in the fair, they have no chance of not seeing you. Of course, everyone wants to present their company in the best possible way, and we support this as much as we can. Therefore, it is not possible for your company to remain invisible and remain in the background, even if you want to. We are in contact with TÜYAP every day, we listen to all kinds of problems, report them to them and try to find a solution. TÜYAP listens to our ideas and gives importance to them. No one should doubt that.”
“TURKISH WOODWORKING COMPANIES STARTED TO TAKE THE PLACE OF ITALIANS IN THE SECTOR”
İsmet Toktaş, Chairman of AIMSAD, continued his speech as follows; “I hope our industry will grow even more. I sincerely believe that the days will come when we cannot fit into this 42 thousand square meters. In an interview I gave to AIMSAD Magazine in 2015, I said ‘Turkey will be the new Italy’. I see this happening step by step. Today, wherever we go in the world, we see that everyone knows a Turkish company. Therefore, what is clear is that Turkish woodworking companies started to take the place of Italians in the sector. In this process, we, as AIMSAD, share information with our members in a much different and more positive way than before.”
“WE DO NOT GO ABROAD TO COMPETE WITH EACH OTHER”
Speaking about the ALL4WOOD Fair organized in Serbia in March, Toktaş said; “As you know, we held a fair called ALL4WOOD in Serbia. We will discuss how successful the fair has been, but this is an important step. Don’t see ALL4WOOD as just a fair, think of ALL4WOOD as a show of strength. About 50 Turkish companies came to the fair and held the fair in the heart of Europe, and as a result, many visitors asked, “Was there that many manufacturers in Turkey?” Look, friends, if we want to progress in the sector, we must progress as a country. We are not a force on our own. Unless we raise our image together, we do not have a brand value. That’s why we have to go up as an industry. Going up as a sector means that the phrase “Made in Turkey” goes up, which is our responsibility. I believe in it all the way. We are still a very small industry. Look at the growth figures, the sum of all of us corresponds to the turnover of a medium-sized company in Europe. Frankly, this is not a situation we deserve. We will come to the situation we deserve, we will work hard to come, we will be together, we will be united and we will move forward. None of us will act separately because many other Turkish companies enter through the door opened by a Turkish company. As long as the Turkish image rises, as long as the Turkish product is good, as long as our companies represent our country and our sector correctly abroad. We do not go abroad to compete with each other. During my presidency, I will focus on the foreign market. If we are going to bring foreign currency to this country, we should not do it with the resources in this country. We need to bring something from outside, we need to grow there”