Iranian Carpet to be Advertised in International M

London, August 3, 2006--Measures taken by the National Center for Iranian Carpet to advertise Persian carpet on foreign television networks have been very effective in boosting the market for the world famous rug, IRNA reported, according to IranMania. Stating the above, an Iranian carpet exporter in Sweden, Mehdi Rahimzadeh said that Persian carpet exports during 2001 to 2005 declined sharply, according to the English-language newspaper Iran Daily. "This was due to political reasons as anti-Iran propaganda was in full swing creating obstacles to developing Persian rug market abroad." He added, "Negative propaganda campaigns against ancient Iranian arts instead helped carpet weavers in China, India and Pakistan to thrive. Therefore, it can be argued that if the current circumstances persist, Iranian carpet market will experience further recession with little or no exports." According to him, negative propaganda campaign against Iranian carpets has also led to recession in the domestic market where even the younger generation is no longer interested in purchasing hand-woven carpets. He argued that the reason Persian carpets are no longer considered attractive in the domestic markets is because they largely fail to take public preferences into account, as most of the traditional designs have remained unchanged over years, overlooking the fact that the market currently favors a variety in design. Rahimzadeh concluded that even the packaging process is still the same as those of decades ago, which translates into the fact that most of the factors involved in the process of making carpet, even packaging, do not have the necessary class to compete with other rivals in the region. He added the situation for the Iranian carpet is not better in Sweden either. "The market in Sweden is still in a deep recession. The situation is similar in other places such as Britain, the United States and certain European countries because of inadequate advertising or marketing campaigns as well as media propaganda against Iranian products," he concluded.

Print the Article