Iran Maintains Largest Share of Hand Woven World C
Tehran, Iran, August 15--Iran still holds the largest share of the hand woven carpet market of the world, despite the problems and competitions its industry has been facing during the recent years, according to the Cultural Heritage News Agency.
Iran has for long been one of the key producers of handmade carpets, but during the recent decade or so has been facing competition and lower prices from producers of other countries including Turkey.
However, as director general of Iran’s Carpet Corporation, Mohammad Ali Karimi, explains, the industry is gradually coming back and during the recent years the situation has improved.
“With a 35- 40 % share of the market sales, we still have the largest rate of carpet sales around the world,” said Karimi, adding that many countries use children and poor people with the lowest wages and the lowest quality materials to produce inexpensive carpets, "but Iran should aim at producing high quality works and not think of mass production," he added.
The fourteenth international exhibition of Iranian carpets is held from 23 August through to 29 August in Tehran and more than 360 companies producing hand-woven carpets will be taking part.
Workshops, seminars, and meeting with the artists are among other programs to be held besides the exhibition.
The number of Iranian carpet producers registering for the international carpet exhibition of Iran has increased 20% this year. Like previous years, many foreign companies are expected to visit the exhibition to purchase their desired weavings.
