Tehran, Iran, August 23--The value of Iran's hand-woven carpet exports reached $600 million last year, Commerce Minister Mohammad Shariatmadari said.
“Due to measures taken in the past year, the downward trend in Iranian carpet value has stopped and even increased 15%,” the Petroenergy Information Network (PIN) quoted him as saying.
Addressing the inaugural of the 13th International Carpet Exhibition here, he noted that Persian hand-woven carpet was a creation of the Iranian talent and creativity and in addition to playing a part in the country's scientific economy, plays a pivotal role in fetching hard currency and creating productive jobs. "Any stagnation in the carpet industry will directly lead to unemployment and reduced revenues for people working in the industry," he said.
The Minister noted that due to high added value, carpet exports played a great part in promoting economic development plans and were always given priority.
Emphasizing continuation of the specialized carpet exhibition, Shariatmadari noted that despite structural developments taken place during the first through third economic development plans, the carpet industry is still not comparable to other industries from material and spiritual viewpoints.
He noted that holding a carpet exhibition was good to introduce the country's export objectives in this section of industry, adding, "Despite the fact that some countries have imitated Iranian carpets and produced carpets quite similar to the Iranian counterpart and have conquered part of global markets, no rival country could produce artifacts that would exactly match Iranian ones," he noted.
The Minister expressed hope that boosting quality of the Iranian carpet, using high-quality material, conducting research and marketing will promote Iranian carpet's status in international markets.
