Iran exported $100.4 million worth of hand-woven carpets in the first quarter of the nation’s fiscal year, a 3.5 percent increase compared with figures from the previous year, reported Iran's Customs Administration. Iran’s fiscal year begins on March 21.
In a bid to maintain stable carpet sales, Iran’s Ministry of Commerce has issued a new export law allowing tourists to leave the country with up to 20 square meters of carpet instead of only six meters. The law applies to visitors returning to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Persian Gulf States, however travelers leaving for Iraq, Syria and Saudi Arabia do not benefit from the increase.
Iran has long been renowned for its carpets, but over the past few years sales have been declining faced with a slip in carpet quality and competition from neighboring countries. Iran used to manufacture 55 percent of the world’s carpet products and now only supplies 30 percent of the international demand.
The state’s Center for Export Development issued a decision last year to begin blocking exports of carpets that do not meet quality standards by 2003. Stricter rules on dyes and other products used to make carpets or thread will also be imposed. — (menareport.com)
© 2002 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
