Tehran, Iran, Jun. 5--Iran's share of world carpet trade has sharply decreased from 55 percent to 28 percent with international producers taking the lead from Iranians by producing cheaper carpets with higher quality, the IRNA reported from Tehran, quoting the Iranian press.
The Persian-language daily `Entekhab' quoted Mohammad-Ali Karimi, the managing director of Iran's Carpet Company, as saying that Iranian carpet enterprises are far behind their competitors who are using Iranian designs with much cheaper workforce.
Karimi blamed the drop in Iran's trade of carpets on the lack of comprehensive regulations to organize the wages as well as working conditions of over two million carpet weavers throughout the country.
He said that there is no appropriate basis for the wages of Iranian carpet weavers given that they are not supported by an association.
Karimi stressed that the market of Iranian carpets can be promoted by employing an efficient management and by relying on the cooperation of investors.
He also said the fact that there are too many decision-making centers in Iran's carpet industry has severely undermined the prosperity of the industry.
Karimi also expressed hope that the recent directive by First Vice President Mohammad-Reza Aref to organize the affairs of Iran's carpet industry through a single decision-making center could boost the status of Iranian carpets in the world.
He put the annual income of Iran's carpet industry at $500 million, stressing that Iran is trying to increase the amount by devising new strategies in the area.
