Iranian Organization: Persian Carpets Losing Appea
London, England, October 25--An Iran Small Industries Organization official said that fine Persian carpet has lost some of its international markets due to state negligence, stressing that the share of Persian carpet industry in national employment has also declined in recent years, according to IranMania.com.
Ali Zafarzadeh, deputy head of the organization for economic and international affairs, told ISNA that the government must allocate more funds to hire prominent carpet design masters, if the national carpet industry is to regain its high international status.
He stressed that Iran Small Industries Organization has suffered major financial losses in recent years from state monopoly, adding that the government must allocate subsidies to private sector to help them have a greater presence in the international markets.
Iran's Customs Administration reported earlier that handicrafts exports stood at $236.8 mln in the first half of the current Iranian year (started March 20).
It added that this shows a 30.9% and a 10.1% decline in terms of weight and value, respectively, compared to the figures for the same period last year.
Carpets and handicrafts accounted for 16% and 8% in terms of weight and value, respectively, of the total non-oil exports.
Carpet exports toped 8,040 tons in weight and $209 mln in value, which are 4.1% and 10.8% lower than the figure for the same period last year.
