Press release…
Ali Fuat Gürle, President of Aegean Furniture, Paper and Forestry Products Exporters’ Association; “We export 68 percent of non-wood products”
“Our exports of non-wood forest products such as laurel, oregano, linden, sage, rosemary, medicinal plants, acorns, etc., which we call non-wood forest products, were around 103 million dollars in 2023 and we accounted for 68 percent of Türkiye’s overall exports of these products,” he said.
“In cooperation with Izmir Chamber of Commerce and Izmir Commodity Exchange, we have completed the needs analysis process of the ‘Ur-Ge Project for the Development of International Competitiveness in the Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Sector’, which we carry out to enhance the competitiveness of the medicinal and aromatic plants sector and the companies operating in the sector. We will start the activities by taking into account the demands of 19 project beneficiary companies. In order to promote the Turkish brand in the best way in markets such as the USA and Germany, which we have chosen as target countries, we will carry out the Turkish Herbal Tea Turquality Project for the medicinal aromatic plants sector for 4 years in partnership with the Mediterranean Furniture, Paper and Forestry Products Exporters Association” he noted.
Pointing out that this time, they will show a different aspect of non-wood forest products such as oregano, laurel, rosemary, etc., in which Türkiye is ranked 1st in the world, “Medicinal and Aromatic Plants” power to the world with the concept of “Turkish Herbal Tea” brand, he concluded, “At the end of 4 years, with the driving force of our Development of International Competitiveness Projects and TURQUALITY Projects and with the synergy provided by the Kınık Agriculture Based Specialised Organised Industrial Zone to be established in Kınık district of Izmir province for the medicinal and aromatic plants sector, we aim to double the exports of our sector and reach 350 – 400 million dollars. In order to raise awareness of our producers for the solution of the Pyrrolizidine Alkaloid (PA) problem in oregano, in 2023, in partnership with Denizli Provincial Directorate of Agriculture and Forestry, we held oregano producer meetings in four regions where the most crop is produced in Denizli province and we will repeat the same meetings in 2024.”