I’m looking to export sales and services for the Textile Sector

Question

We are an embedded systems development company specialising in industrial monitoring systems. We have just completed development on our latest product which is a production management system for textile factories. The product has been developed for Weaving factories to improve tracking and tractability of production with the aim of improving efficiency. Our initial release provides production management but the aim is to deliver a complete ERP solution. There are already similar offerings in the market but our unique edge is that our devices are wireless and the software is being developed into an integrated ERP solution.

We are looking to export to countries who have a strong Textile industry like Bangladesh, Turkey, Egypt ect…

I would like to know:-

1) Which countries I should be looking at.
2) How I should go about access the identified countries.
3) What is the process to export my product from the UK.

Thank you

Answer

Hi Nasir

We have students with Turkish and Arabic language skills who would be interested in helping you research foreign markets as an internship. This can be an extremely cost effective way of finding your way to the correct markets.

Please call me if you’d like to know more.

Best wishes
Madeline

Answer

Hello Nasir,
When it comes to export you appear to have two ‘products’.
1. an actual physical device and 2. software

If you export your software electronically (over the internet for example) it will be treated differently from a tax point of view to the export of the physical product.

When you export the physical product there will be import duty / tax to be considered at the destination.

When you export the software electronically you have to charge the buyer UK taxes.

If you export the software already loaded on the physical product it is treated as if it were the physical product but there are rules about how the ‘value’ of the combined export is treated.

Once you have decided your likely target countries and are building your costings you can work out the advantages / disadvantages etc. of options above.

If your software includes levels of encryption or could be put to a different use than you intend both the software and the physical product might be caught by the Export Licencing regulations which could restrict your target destinations and customers. I would need to know more about your product to offer any further guidance on this point.

Regards,
Susan
[email protected]
www.morley-consulting.co.uk

Answer

Hi Nashir,

1) Turkey has a strong textile industry and a significant number of weaving mills. In order to understand the market better, you can visit the below sites:
www.itkib.org.tr – Istanbul Textile & Apparel Exporters Association – for sector and company information

2) The best route to enter the market is via agents/distributors.

It could be beneficial for the company to speak with BTMA – British Textile Machinery Association, as they regularly organise group participation at Turkish Textile Machinery trade shows (where weaving factories exhibit). The last one was in 2013 – www.itm2013.com/en
The next one will be in 2016 – www.itm2016.com.tr

Also, Texpo Eurasia 2014 would be a good opportunity for your company to visit and make contacts with relevant exhibitors to introduce your product – www.texpoeurasia.com/en

3) Turkey is a member of EU Customs Union, so there’s no import duty in technological products exported to Turkey from an EU member country.

If you would like to commission a bespoke research to identify agents/distributors, please contact UKTI’s textile sector lead Guliz Kiymaz. ( [email protected] )

Regards from Turkey
Nirva Altunkeser
Head of Marketing

Export Action Plan