The Competitive power of Turkish furniture industry within the scale of European Union

This dissertation aims at researching the structural peculiarities, through thestatistical data obtained, the mutual trade relations of Turkish furnitureindustry from the near past till 2005 by defining the present situation of theindustry in the furniture market, and makes offers to elevate the competitivepower of our country which has been trying to enter and integrate into the EU.To constitute the dissertation, and in accordance with its aim, main and sub-titles have been defined, and the contents of these titles have been put forward.Taking the aim of the dissertation into consideration, foreign and nativeinstitutions have been defined, and research has been made in the libraries andinternet addresses of these institutions. Related materials that could be usefulsuch as books, journals, brochures and reports have been gathered and studied.In conclusion, this dissertation reveals the weakness of the competitive power ofTurkish furniture industry which consists of small and medium size companieswithin the EU scales. Expensive raw material supply and energy usage, thecomplexity of taxation system and high taxation, the lack of suitable workingenvironment, the insufficiency of vocational education, design and trademarkproblems, and the discord of environmental norms with the norms of EU areamong the reasons that reduce the competitive power of the industry. Thedissertation comes to the conclusion that if the obstacles before the industry areremoved, with the number of companies and with its potential, Turkishfurniture industry will be able to compete with its European counterpart.