Promosyon Show İstanbul 2021 brought together Türkiye's leading brands in the promotional products sector. The opening of the fair, held in Hall 11 of the İstanbul Expo Center, was attended by Mahmut Asmalı, President of the Independent Industrialists and Businessmen Association - MÜSİAD, Adil Pelister, Chairman of the Board of Directors of İKMİB, Ömer Karatemiz, President of the Promotional and Printing Industrialists and Businessmen Association - PROMASİAD, Münir Üstün, Member of the Board of Directors of the İstanbul Chamber of Commerce - İTO, Alpay Erus, Member of the Board of Directors of UFRAD, and Şaban Beyler and Mustafa Göktürk, Members of the Board of Directors of ARED, the Outdoor and Industrial Advertisers Association.

Speaking at the event, MÜSİAD President Mahmut Asmalı emphasized that MÜSİAD will continue to be the voice of the business world in the post-pandemic period as well. President Asmalı also said of the event, "The promotional products sector, with its rich structure covering many sectors, has reduced its imports over the years and is a sector with very high export potential."

Promosyon Show İstanbul, the brand fair of the corporate marketing and advertising products sector, took place in Hall 11 of the İstanbul Expo Center between 29 September and 02 October 2021. Visitors showed great interest in the event, which experienced a fairground setting for the first time after being held in a conference hall-hotel concept over the past three years. Barış Göktürk, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Sky Fuarcılık, who took the floor in the opening speech of the event, underlined the necessity for Promosyon Show İstanbul to now gain momentum in opening up to international markets; while Ömer Karatemiz, President of the Promotional and Printing Industrialists and Businessmen Association (PROMASİAD), one of the collaborating associations of the event, stated that Promosyon Show İstanbul is an event that has proven itself to the entire sector and that it will be recognized in wider geographies in the coming periods as the Covid-19 pandemic loses its effect.

MÜSİAD President Mahmut Asmalı, speaking at the program, recalled that fairs held in virtual environments have taken an important place in online marketplace applications, and stated that physical fairs add a distinct spirit to sectoral work. Using the words "The promotional products sector, with its rich structure covering many sectors, has reduced its imports over the years and is a sector with very high export potential" about the fair, President Asmalı continued his speech as follows:

"As MÜSİAD, we will continue to be the voice of our business world"

"With the Covid-19 disease, which emerged in the world at the end of 2019, appearing in our country as well at the beginning of 2020, production and manufacturing processes in many sectors were disrupted. Because of the international lockdowns that began as the disease increased, declines were experienced in import and export rates. Fairs were one of the areas affected by the pandemic. Although fairs held in virtual environments and online marketplace applications seemed like a solution, the place of the fairs where the sector comes together, introduces its products and meets its customers proved to be something else. In this regard, it is a gratifying development that our business people have come together again at such fairs and that trade, the lifeblood of the economy, has resumed. As MÜSİAD, we too try to support fairs in various fields together with our members who do business in dozens of different sectors under our roof. In the post-pandemic period as well, as MÜSİAD we will continue to be the voice of our business world with our branches and representative offices in every corner of our country.

Our country needs business people who, from our smallest SME to our industrialists operating on a large scale, will reduce foreign dependency in every field and every sector and deliver their products and services to the whole world with an export vision. In recent years we have witnessed the actions of ill-intentioned capital owners in our financial markets and in exchange rates in the economic sphere. We have seen that these processes have caused difficulties for our business world at the point of costing in the purchase of imported goods. In addition, our current account deficit, one of our country's chronic problems, must also become balanced and stand at minimum levels. I am of the opinion that the sole key to these problems lies in taking steps that support domestic production and in ensuring that the domestic option is preferred in the supply of raw materials.

"The Turkish promotional products sector manages to be effective in the international arena even under pandemic conditions"

The promotional products sector, with its rich structure covering many sectors, has reduced its imports over the years and is a sector with very high export potential. In this sense, I believe that the sector, which contributes to the export figures of many sectors from textiles to plastics, from paper to wood, from metal to leather, will contribute to the country's economy even more strongly. The more we can minimize our economic dependence on abroad, the more we will be speaking of a more prosperous country. On this and many other issues, working together with you in the new term of our MÜSİAD and keeping the channels of communication open, we will present our solution proposals and the projects we have developed to the competent authorities of our state.

In addition, we observe that promotional and publicity products stand out among all advertising media with their low budget and their ease of reaching the target audience. According to the information I have received from colleagues representing the sector, the Turkish promotional products sector, which showed a continuous growth trend for four years before the pandemic period, manages to be effective in the international arena even under pandemic conditions. On this occasion, I hope that Promosyon Show 2021 will once again bring auspicious and fruitful business to our sector and our economy, and I extend my gratitude to our sector association and the organization company that contributed to this event, and to you, our valued companies and business people, who have made this fair valuable by taking part in it as exhibitors and visitors."

Compliance with the rules for combating Covid-19 drew attention at the fair

At the Gala Dinner held at the Wow Hotel on the second day of the fair, plaques were presented to the sponsor organizations of Promosyon Show İstanbul 2021, while the leading names of the sector who took the floor in the greeting speeches spoke of the importance of the contribution of fairs to the industry, and a consensus was reached on the necessity for Türkiye to become an important producer and supplier in the global market for the corporate promotional products sector.

The Covid-19 measures taken at the fair, which was open to visitors for four days, were another point that drew attention, while the fact that visitors toured the fair in compliance with rules such as wearing masks and social distancing was another point that did not escape notice.